Hermione's Hero
by NikkyA.27
Summary: The Granger was saved by a new superhero who called himself the Red Archer. Hermione is determine to find out who he is, he might be closer than she thinks. Starts in the Third Year until the Epilogue
1. Chapter 1

"Hermione, come on, we need to get home." The Grangers came from watching a West-End production and were walking back to their car that was parked quite far away. The used an alleyway as a short cut to get quickly back to their vehicle. The alleyway was dark and dimmed; there were lots of cracks on the floor and over filled bins.

"Well...well...look what we have here guys," said a dark voice making the Granger's to go stiff as a board. "We have the higher class." Before they knew it, they were surrounded by men that looked like killers, drug users and alcoholics.

"We were just trying to get home so if you will excuse us." Mr Granger grabbed his wife and daughter's hands and started walking quickly out of the alley but the men barricaded them from leaving.

"Why don't you just stay awhile," said the ringleader who was a burly man with lots of scars on his arms and face, jet black hair and cold grey eyes. "I must say you have some pretty girls with you." He licked his lips making Hermione and Mrs Granger quiver and shiver in fear.

"You know you're not very nice to women," said a cheerful voice making everyone in the alleyway look around to see the source of the voice; the ring leader pulled out a pocket knife and shouted,

"SHOW yourself you coward!" The voice chuckled and replied,

"As you wish." Then a hooded figure jumped down in front of the Grangers. The figure had a dark red leather hood that was a zip up sleeveless shirt and his eyes were covered with black sunglasses; he was wearing black jeans that looked tight and his shirt was a short sleeve skin-tight that had an emblem of RA letters interlocking. He was holding a metal bow and metal quivers on his back full of arrows. "Let them pass or else," he said calmly making the thugs laugh at him.

"Who are you supposed to be?" The ringleader scoffed at him.

"Call me the Red Archer." Hermione wrinkled her nose, feeling like she had heard the voice somewhere before. "Let them go or face the consequences," he said without any fear as the thugs came closer to him.

"Oh yeah a thing like you, a hero?!" Then one of the men who looked quite drunk as he wobbled towards Red Archer poked him on the chest and said, "Please." He scoffed making Red Archer smirk as a blast of black smoke spread making everyone cough. Mr Granger hugged his family close as they heard punches and grunts being made in the black smoke; once the black smoke disappeared, the Grangers noticed that all the thugs were knocked out and were tied up while their hero didn't get a single scratch.

"Are you okay?" The hero asked as he walked over to the Granger family then Mr Granger picked up a metal pole and was ready to whack him with it, causing the red hero to freeze on his spot. He put his hands up in mock defence then playfully stated, "Well aren't you a friendly family." He laughed a little causing Hermione to instantly remember Ron. He lowered his arms and spoke with friendliness and kindness in his voice. "I promise I won't hurt you." Mr Granger dropped the pole on the floor as Red Archer started to walk away.

"Thank you…how can we repay you?" Mrs Granger asked making their hero stop to look at them with a large grin on his face and replied,

"You already have." He saluted with two fingers at them and shouted, "See you around...bye Hermione!" With that, he was gone in a flash while Hermione's parents looked weirdly at their daughter who shrugged and spoke.

"I have never seen him, honest...let's just get out of here." The Grangers all agreed and went home.

The next day, Hermione woke up and rubbed her tired eyes as she heard tapping on her bedroom window. She walked over to her window and saw it was the Weasley family owl, Errol, with a letter tied to one of its feet. Hermione opened the window for the bird to enter her room. "You got a letter for me?" She asked the owl who hooted making Hermione smile then untied the letter on his leg and opened it to read.

_Hermione, _  
_How's your summer been? Mine's been okay. Anyway my mum wants you to invite you and your family for like a Weasley picnic next Thursday, where... well...basically go to like the beach near our house and have a picnic or swim or surf or fish or knowing you, read. It will just be my family and some of my mum's friends… reply quickly so mum knows how much food she needs to cook but knowing me it will be gone before we get there (I'm joking). Unfortunately Harry can't go because his uncle won't let him be with, and I quote "Freaks." So what do you say? My dad will pick up you with his Ford Anglia if you can come.  
Ron_

Hermione smiled as she told Errol "stay here." The owl hooted as he perched on the window waiting and rushed downstairs as fast as she could to her parents who were making breakfast. "MUM, DAD! Can we go to the Weasley picnic please?" Hermione said excitedly to her parents who were shocked at how excited their daughter was about this event. They looked at each other as Hermione handed then Ron's letter making them smile.

"What do you think Jenny?" Mr Granger playfully asked his wife who smiled and caught onto her husband's game to tease their daughter.

"Well...I don't know Jack, do you think we should go?" Hermione frowned then groaned in annoyance as her foot tapped impatiently making her parents laugh; they both nodded making Hermione squeal in happiness and hug her parents and said a thousand thank you's when Jenny playfully asked as Hermione was about to speed up upstairs to write a reply. "You really want to go just to see Ron in his swim suit don't you?" Hermione froze in her tracks as she blushed red making the Grangers laugh further at their daughter.

"MUM!" Hermione shouted then she ran up the stairs to reply to Ron's letter.

It was finally Thursday and Hermione and her parents were waiting for Arthur to pick them up. At ten in the morning there was a knock on door so the Grangers grabbed their bags and walked towards the door; Jack opened the door and saw Ron's father with a wide grin on his face and waved happily at them.

"Hey, are you ready?" He asked and the Grangers nodded. "Fred and George help them with the bags." The twins got out of the car and grabbed all their bags and put it in the boot of the car. "We'll go straight to the beach near our house." The Grangers nodded. "Everyone's already there, preparing." They then all got in the car and Arthur started driving to their location.

"We also have some food that we packed… is that okay?" Mrs Granger asked Arthur who smiled and nodded and then replied,

"Yeah, knowing my boys the food that Molly packed won't be enough." He joked making Fred and George roll their eyes while everyone else laughed. The twins were still frowning. "What's up with you two?" Arthur asked his sons when Fred spoke.

"Ron will get all the girls again." Arthur made a face and asked confused,

"Again?" Fred and George nodded when it was George's turn to speak.

"Yeah…last time we went all the girls went to Ron because they thought he was sweet playing with Nicky and Ally." George muttered angrily making Arthur sigh and shake his head and explained,

"Ron can't help being who he is and if you want to get the girls, play with Nicky and Ally then- don't blame Ron." The twins rolled their eyes again as Arthur looked at the back of the car and spoke to the Grangers. "Hold on tight!" He then pressed a button causing the car to hover and fly high in the sky.

After an hour of driving, they finally got to their location. Arthur parked his car as everyone got out and then headed over to the Weasleys. The Grangers awed at the sight of the beautiful beach-the white soft sand beneath their feet and the crystal clear ocean was just amazing to see. "Finally you're here!" Molly walked over to the Grangers and hugged them tightly. "Welcome- sit, sit down." She offered to the Grangers who smiled and sat down on the picnic blanket (while Percy was reading a book under the large umbrella).

"Molly, dear where are the kids?" Arthur asked before kissing her on the cheek before sitting down on the picnic blanket as did Fred and George.

"The kids are just walking around, wasting some time." Molly looked to where they could hear laughter making her smile. "There they are." All the heads turned to see Ginny and Ron running after two little girls no older than five who were running towards their picnic blanket. Hermione watched Ron laugh happily as he ran after one of the girls and picked her up and threw her in the air; he then caught her making her giggle as they walked over to them. Ron placed down the little girl who went to get a drink.

"Hermione!" Ron said happily and hugged her tightly. "It's good to see you, when did you guys get here?" He asked them as he searched his families' picnic for a bottle of water as Hermione secretly was checking Ron out. She noticed that he was wearing dark blue swim shorts and nothing else; she could also tell that Ron had grown a couple of inches since she last saw him, along with some muscle gain...wait…what was she thinking? This was her best friend! Realizing that she was distracted by Ron's appearance, she quickly remembered Ron's question.

"We just got here." She quickly explained making Ron nod. He then felt someone tug on his hand and looked down to see Ally who had green eyes and blond hair.

"What is it Ally?" Ron asked her as he knelt down so he was eye level with the little girl.

"When's mummy and daddy coming back?" She asked. "Me and Nicky misses them." She pouted making Ron smile.

"Ally, they will be back soon." Ally nodded then asked, "Want to go surfing?" The other little girl ran over when she heard the word surfing.

"Uncle me too, please!" Nicky begged Ron who looked into her blue eyes and her long curly brown hair making Ron smile and nodded. He saw Fred and George glare at him and looked from the corner of his eyes and saw the girls were smiling at him. Ron whispered into the little girl's ears making them nod then run over to Fred and George. "Uncle Fred, Uncle George can you teach us to surf please?" The twins made a strange face at each other then looked at Ron who nodded and nudged his head over to the girls. Understanding their little brother's plan, they nodded and grabbed two surf boards and taught Ally and Nicky while Ron sat down on the picnic blanket to get a ham sandwich. "Hungry aren't you Ronald" Jack joked at Ron who smiled and replied,

"Always hungry sir." He took a bite of the sandwich as he looked at Fred and George teaching Ally and Nicky to surf.

"Why did you let Fred and George go surfing and not you, dear?" Molly asked then added, "I thought you loved surfing." Ron playfully shrugged then nudged his head over to the girls who were watching with awe. Seeing this, Molly understood and shook her head. "I should have known." Ron smiled as he finished his sandwich. When he was finished eating, he picked up one of the surfboards.

"I'll be right back." Ron saluted using two fingers at his family and friends before running towards the ocean. They watched the youngest Weasley lying on his chest as he swam towards the large forming wave, intrigued as to how well Ron surfed without trouble. After ten minutes, everyone started playing in the water or playing ball with each other; Ron got out of the water as he pushed his wet red hair backwards so he could see and saw Hermione under the umbrella reading a book. "Hermione?" Ron called out as he took a seat in front of her. She looked up and smiled at him.

"Hello Ron. Why aren't you back in the water, surfing?" She asked as she looked back at her book and turned the page making Ron frown and snatched the book off her making her angry. "HEY! GIVE IT BACK RONALD!" She ordered and reached out for the book but Ron kept it out of her reach. "This isn't funny Ron! Give it!"

"Why aren't you in the water, its boiling here, don't you want to cool down?" Ron asked as Hermione kept reaching for the book. Hermione didn't say anything as she looked fearfully at the ocean then at her feet. Ron looked at the ocean then back at Hermione and guessed why she didn't want to go.

"Hermione are you afraid of the water?" Ron asked Hermione who shook her head and frowned at him.

"NO! I'm not afraid of water." She shrieked but Ron knew that Hermione was lying to him. He sighed as he ran his fingers through his wet hair then whispered to her sweetly,

"Hermione you know you can tell me anything." Hermione looked into his blue eyes and saw kindness and truth which made her sigh.

"I can't swim and I'm afraid of water." She whispered making Ron smile and listened to her. "When I was little, I drowned and I thought I was going to die… I've never swam since." Ron nodded as Hermione looked back at her feet. "Go on make fun of me, let's get this over with." The red haired boy shook his head and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Hermione I will never make fun of your fear; after all, you never made fun of my fear of spiders. You know what? I'll help you deal with your fear- how about now?" Ron asked Hermione who looked at the beach filled with people trying to cool off then shook her head making Ron sigh and nod. "Well, how about this, when you're ready to learn to swim, I'll teach you okay? I promise I won't tell anyone about this." Hermione nodded and mouthed thank you as Ron gave Hermione back her book as Nicky called out very loudly.

"MUMMY, DADDY" The two little girls ran out of the water to run over to their parents. Ron stood up and walked over to them.

"Hey Morgan, Erica" Ron smiled at the two couples. Morgan had blue eyes and blond hair while his wife Erica had brown curly hair and green eyes. "Glad you finally came." Ron shook hands with Morgan and then his wife hugged Ron. All of them walked back to the blanket where they were introduced to Hermione. "Morgan, Erica this is Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is Morgan and Erica Collins, the parents of these two little devils." Ron teased as he ruffled the girl's hair making them groan and moan in annoyance as everyone got out of the water at Molly's insistence.

"Come on everyone let's eat." As they were eating, they all shared delicious food and stories with each other. Whilst they ate, Morgan asked everyone,

"Did you hear about the new superhero? Red Archer wasn't it?" The Grangers stopped eating immediately when they heard the name and instantly remembered the night he saved them.

"You know him?" Jack asked making Morgan look strangely at Hermione's father and nodded. He then slyly looked over at Ron who stared at him before taking a bite; no one else noticed but Hermione did and started to get suspicious but didn't say anything.

"Yes, Red Archer" Mr and Mrs Granger nodded. "He just started and is getting stronger each day! The Ministry of Magic is in the middle if they like them or not, but all he wants to do is protect people." The Grangers nodded in understanding while they all ate.

After the day was finished, the Collins went home while the Grangers were invited by Weasleys to stay overnight so they didn't have to travel at night as Arthur promised that he would take them home the next morning.

Hermione woke up and rubbed her tired eyes. She looked around the room and saw Ginny sleeping peacefully. She checked the clock and saw it was six in the morning. She quietly walked down the stairs trying not to make any sound when she heard happy humming coming from the kitchen and smiled when she saw Mrs Weasley cooking breakfast. "Morning Hermione, dear," Molly said cheerily as Hermione watched from the doorway. "How did you sleep last night?" She asked as she cracked the eggs and started frying them.

"Good, thank you again for letting us stay." Hermione thanked Molly, who smiled as she flipped the eggs over then replied,

"The more the merrier, dear. Oh Hermione, could you wake up Ronald? He slept on the couch again." Hermione pulled a strange face then looked over to the couch to see him crashed on the sofa sleeping but looking tired. "He's been doing that a while now." Hermione nodded as she started to walk towards the sofa and saw Ron with his eyes closed and his mouth slightly open. He also was snoring a little, making Hermione smile as she lightly shook him awake. After a few tries, Ron's eyelids fluttered open and started to adjust to the sunlight and smiled at Hermione.

"Morning." Ron yawned as he stretched his arms out then sniffed the air and smelt the delicious smell of breakfast. "What's smells so good?" Ron got up and went to the kitchen and smiled when he saw his mother with two plates in her hands- one filled with eggs, bacon and sausages while the other one was filled with lots of pieces of toasts. "Let me help you with that mum." Ron grabbed the two plates from his mother's hands and placed them on the table.

The next week, the Weasleys were at Diagon Alley to get what they needed for school in the few days to come; they met up with Harry in The Leaky Cauldron and went to Diagon Alley together. When they needed to go to Gringotts to get some money, they saw the Grangers there as well. "Hello" They all waved. "Are you going to Gringotts as well?" Arthur asked them as they nodded and showed him the Muggle money they would be exchanging.

"Mum, Dad let's go!" Fred and George moaned while everyone else laughed.

"Want to come with us?" Ron asked the Grangers who nodded as they only had been changing money in Gringotts and not going into the vaults.

"Ron?!" Molly said weakly being a little ashamed of not having lots in their vaults unlike Harry, but her youngest son held her hand tightly and smiled at her. They went to Harry's vault first and saw there were lots of gold inside making the other Weasleys besides Ron feel a little envious of him; but when it came to their vault, they saw it was filled with gold and not Sickles or Knuts but just a pile of Galleons. "What on earth? There wasn't much money here the last time we checked!" Molly asked the goblin who handed her a piece of black coin that had the letters RA interlocking in the middle.

"Somebody wanted to give you this." Molly took the coin and inspected it closely as Fred and George looked at the coin and gasped in shock.

"Mum it's from the Red Archer!" Fred said excitedly to his mother as he looked at the black coin while Molly took all the money they needed. "Mum we don't need to buy hand me downs anymore!" All the Weasleys smiled at this revelation as did the Grangers and Harry. But the question was, 'who was this masked stranger?'

* * *

Hey I tried to draw what the Red Archer might look like to help people visualize, its not very good I did it on paint but I hope you like it. its one my homepage I think


	2. Chapter 2

When the Wesley family had finished buying their school supplies with the new money they received from the Red Archer, they went to the Leaky Cauldron to get some drinks. Ron saw from the corner of his eye two men starting to cause a fight when suddenly one of the men pulled out his wand. "Sectumsempra" Ron saw Hermione was about to get hit so he jumped forward and covered her but his right hand got the spell causing a slash to appear on his hand. "Arrghhh!" Ron shouted in pain as he looked at his hand and saw blood dripping down.

"RON!" All the Weasleys and the Granger's shouted as Ron picked up a piece of white cloth and put it on his wound.

"I'm alright mum, don't worry." Ron tried to smile as the white cloth started to spread with his red blood and hissed in pain as he wrapped the piece of cloth around his hand tighter. Molly came over to tend to her son's wounds.

"Ron don't do that, I'll quickly get some medicine." Molly got up but someone walked over to them and said,

"No need, I'll take care of it Molly." They all craned their heads to see a man who looked to be about in his mid-forties with brown hair (that was already greying) and kind blue eyes. He looked at the cloth that was stained with Ron's red blood. He kneeled down in front of Ron and carefully pulled the white cloth out and saw that the youngest Weasley's wound was deep. "Well...I'm afraid I have to stitch it up." Ron sighed as he nodded then replied,

"Do what you need to do, Mr Peters." The man sighed as he searched his briefcase that was filled with medical equipment and pulled out a thick piece of thread and a sharp needle. He put the thread through the needle delicately.

"For god sakes Ron, call me Adam-Mr Peters make me sound old." He joked to Ron as he started closing the wound. "Deep breaths Ron" he instructed Ron who nodded then playfully said,

"You are old." Adam smirked then painfully stabbed the needle through Ron's skin making him howls in pain. "Oww!" He complained making Adam laugh as he continued to work on Ron's injury. After he was done stitching up Ron's wound, he snipped off the extra piece of thread then put it in the bin and then got out a white bandage to wrap it around Ron's hand. When Adam was done Ron looked at his hand and smiled. "Thank you." Adam smiled then said his goodbye to the families. "Are you alright Hermione?" Ron asked Hermione who nodded as she looked worriedly at his injured hand but hid it behind his back not to cause anymore distress. "Don't worry about it." Then there were gasps over to the men who were fighting.

It was the Red Archer who hauled both of them up in the air with their feet dangling. His bow was strapped on his body with the strong thick string going diagonally across from his shoulder to his hip. "Now apologize to the poor gentleman who sacrificed himself for the lovely lady." The men just kept their mouth shuts causing the hero to haul them up higher and tighter which led them gasping for air as they spoke in raspy voices.

"We're sorry, we're sorry!" The Red Archer smirked and dropped the men painfully on their bottoms then ran out of the Leaky Cauldron in shame. Then the hero walked over to Ron who was secretly smiling to himself as his siblings and the other's mouths gaped open.

"Thank you." Molly held the Red Archer's hand making him smile and nod.

"Are you sure you're okay?" The hero asked Ron who nodded and then he turned to Hermione "and you miss?" Hermione nodded as well before saying,

"Thank you for saving us… back in London." Hermione noticed that the Red Archer looked a little confused for a minute and then nodded and replied,

"No worries, but I must go." The Red Archer bowed and left. While everyone watched the hero take leave, Ron was looking down at his wrapped injury and noticed something in his bandages; he pulled out another black coin that had the RA emblem making him smile as he secretly put in his pocket.

"Hey Mum, I promised Harry I'd show him the new Firebolt- please? We'll be back in an hour or so." Ron pleaded making Molly sigh and was about to say no but then she looked at his bandaged hand and nodded causing Ron to smile. "Hermione, do you want to come with us?" Ron asked Hermione who looked at her parents who grinned and nodded as well.

"Yeah sure, let's go!" The trio left the Leaky Cauldron to go to the Quidditch supply shop; Ron and Harry stared at the new Firebolt with want when Hermione looked at a shop window and saw a ginger cat watching her. "Hermione what do you think?" Ron looked to his left and saw Hermione wasn't there. "Hermione?!" He turned to see Hermione inside the wizard pet shop and was petting a fat ginger cat. Ron watched her stroke the cat with a large smile on her face.

"Ron where's Hermione?" Ron looked to see Hermione's parents and his family walking up to them. He pointed to the pet shop window where they could see their daughter hugging the ginger cat lovingly. The Grangers smiled as they went inside the pet shop towards their daughter and Ron could see that Hermione was begging and pleading her parents to buy the ginger cat which made him grin.

"Ron check this out!" Harry pulled Ron to a shop window to look at something. "What do you think?" He asked his red hair best friend who just shrugged as a ginger cat went through his legs. Ron bent down gingerly to pet the cat.

"Hello there little fella." Ron was about to pet the ginger cat but it hissed at him causing Ron to pull his hands away from the cat. "Friendly aren't you!" Ron got up as Hermione ran over to them.

"Ron, this is Crookshanks, my parents bought him for me." Ron nodded as Hermione picked it up and started to pet him lovingly as the cat started purring in delight. "Who's a good boy" she cooed while Ron frowned and muttered.

"Not him." Ron just watched the cat bask in Hermione's attention.

It was the first of September and Hermione, Ron and Harry were on the train looking for a place to sit. They found a compartment that only had one person who was sleeping and decided to stay there. "This will have to do." Harry commented as they entered. Ron and Harry put their bags easily on top while Hermione was having trouble putting hers up so he decided to help her which made Hermione mouth thank you to Ron as they took a seat. Ron went to sit next to the sleeping man when he heard Harry pipe up. "Ron, who do think is the Red Archer?" Harry asked him curiously but his friend only shrugged and looked through the train window.

"Red Archer is not well liked by the Ministry and You-Know-Who." Ron explained to Harry while Hermione was petting Crookshanks. "And they are offering a large reward to whoever captures him- a thousand galleons I think it is." Ron watched Hermione frown.

"The Red Archer only protects people, why do they want to catch him?" Hermione asked Ron who shrugged as the train came to a stop and the temperature started to drop. "What on earth is going on?" Ron looked at the window and saw it started to freeze; he placed his hands on the window and felt the icy cold glass against his hands. Suddenly, a crinkly old hand reached for their compartment door. The trio was too afraid to move as it opened the door.

"Oh no" Ron muttered under his breath as the hooded figured floated towards Harry and started to start sucking something from Harry when the sleeping figure woke up and pointed his wand as a blinding white light hit the creature.

Harry opened his eyes and looked around the room and noticed he was at the hospital wing at Hogwarts. "How are you feeling?" He turned to see the man who they sat with in the compartment smiling at him. "My name is Remus Lupin, I'll be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts this year." Harry shook the man's hands. "You know you may look like your father but you have Lily's eyes." He commented making Harry's eyes widen in surprise.

"You knew my parents?" Remus nodded. Harry had so many questions about his parents and fired away at Remus, who didn't seem to mind answering. Then suddenly Harry remembered his two best friends were not around. "Wait where's Ron and Hermione?" He asked Remus who smiled then said,

"They are at lessons now." Harry nodded. "You need to rest".

Hermione looked at her piece of parchment to search for the right classroom for advance math and after a few seconds she found it. She entered the room and was shocked to see Ron who didn't look very happy. "Ronald what are _you_ doing here?" She hissed at Ron who looked at her and shrugged when their teacher McGonagall spoke.

"Now some of you chose this difficult subject to excel and have a bright future." She looked at Hermione who puffed out her chest a little with some pride. "But some of you were put in this subject because we know you have the skill to aim high in this area." She looked directly at Ron who sighed as he buried his hands in his pockets. "Now for your seating plan..." Ron sat at the back while Hermione was in the front ready to take notes but still thinking.

'_I thought Ron hates math, I'm not being harsh but Ron doesn't belong here… this subject is supposed to be for the gifted_.' Then Hermione felt that she was punched in the stomach. _'Wait I'm being harsh on Ron, maybe he's good at math and I don't know it yet… but… I'll find out."_ She looked from the corner of her eye and saw Ron looking sleepy already as he crossed his arms and placed his head on top of them looking bored. After the lesson was finished, Ron was the first to go out and ready to escape but Hermione grabbed his hand and dragged him to an empty classroom.

"What the bloody hell, Hermione?" Ron said angrily as he walked towards the door but Hermione blocked it preventing him from leaving. "Hermione please I need to leave!" he sighed.

"Alright did you take Advance Math as a joke? To prove something or what?" Hermione asked Ron who just looked at her then sighed,

"I was forced by my parents and teachers… my mum got a letter from Professor Dumbledore about me being good at math." He explained this to Hermione who nodded then exhaled and was about to speak but Ron kept speaking. "I took it because none of my siblings ever did Advanced Math." Hermione saw sadness in his eyes and she knew why- Ron always felt that he was being overshadowed by his siblings and Harry's achievements as well; she wanted him to see how great he was and not as someone who stood in others' shadows.

"Ron-"she was interrupted by Ron who sighed and picked her up by the waist. "RON!" She shouted with a pink blush on her face as Ron placed her on the other side so the door was free. Ron opened the door and before he went to his next lesson he commented,

"You're very light...see you at Divination." Hermione blushed harder as Ron left for his next lesson, Divination, with Miss Trelawny who was a little crazy. They were reading tea leaves when she came over to Harry and Ron who looked like they were about to go to sleep. "What do you see dears?" She asked them causing them to quickly pick up their cups and look at the tea leaves. Then Harry kicked Ron in the shin to speak first, throwing him to the crazy wolves.

"Oww" Their teacher looked at Ron weirdly making him clear his throat. "I mean...I see-" Ron was interrupted by Hermione.

"I'm sorry but how accurate is reading tea leaves?" Ron's eyes widened in surprise at her sudden appearance but the teacher responded not too kindly as Ron blurted out,

"Where did you come from?" Ron asked Hermione who completely ignored him as their teacher grabbed Hermione's hands and patted it patronizingly.

"My dear child, the second you appeared in my classroom, I could tell you do not possess talent and I'm afraid this is not the place for you." Ron and Harry's mouths gaped open in shock while Hermione frowned and scoffed as she packed her stuff in her bag and left the room angry. "Was it something I said?" Ron, still in shock decided it best to look at his tea cup; he saw a club, a cross and a weird shape falcon so Ron flipped through the pages and saw what each object symbolized. 'A club meant an attack, the cross meant suffering and trials, the falcon meant a deadly enemy. Ron put the clues together- there would be a deadly enemy that would attack and make him suffer. Just as he was digesting this information, the bell rung and everyone quickly escaped the classroom.

"Ron, are you going to each lunch?" Harry asked him but shook his head and replied, (as he picked up a couple of sandwiches and two chocolate cupcakes to wrap with a napkin)

"No there's something I need to do, see you later." Ron left Harry who shrugged and sat next to Neville and Dean so he wasn't alone during lunch. The red head went to the library with hidden food under his cloak, and headed for the corner of the library. He smiled when he saw Hermione trying to reach for a book that was really high for her to reach. Ron simply watched for a while before putting the napkin covered food on the table and went over to reach up for the book and gave it to Hermione who turned around and smiled at him.

"Thanks, hey why aren't you at lunch with Harry?" Hermione asked Ron who just shrugged as he sat on the table where there weren't any of Hermione's books. He then spoke.

"I wanted to see if you were okay, you don't really take what Miss Trelawney said do you about you not having talent? That just is completely stupid, you know that right?" Hermione smiled as Ron who grinned back at her continued, "If anything, you have more talent than any of us put together." Hermione blushed a little as Ron uncovered the napkin and showed her the sandwiches and two chocolate cupcakes to Hermione whose eyes widened in shock.

"RON you aren't allowed to eat food in the library." She scolded Ron who rolled his eyes then took one of the sandwiches and took a slow bite and chewed it.

"Come on you broke almost every rule ever since the first year." Hermione was about to speak when her stomach grumbled making Ron smirk then handed her the sandwich which she took whilst looking around for anyone watching. Ron seeing her paranoia laughed and then said "Eat, the food podice won't catch us Hermione." "It's _police_ Ron and they had better not! But Ron could see her smiling as she said this and dove right into her food. They then ate in silence and when Ron was finished eating (while Hermione was still eating her chocolate cupcake), he broke the silence. "The Red Archer- what do you think of him? People call him a coward for covering his face… do you want to know who he is?" Ron asked Hermione who looked at her half eaten cupcake as she thought of an answer.

"I think he is amazing for giving up lots of his time to save people- and he isn't a coward…all heroes have secret identities to protect the ones they love." Ron nodded as he continued to listen. "But if I know who he is, that will take the magic away." Ron's eyebrows rose at this comment.

"The magic away? What do you mean by that?" Ron asked as Hermione finished her cupcake.

"The magic, if I know who he is, it's not as mysterious and interesting but if I don't know him, it makes it that much more mysterious, you know? I just hope he knows he is saving a lot of lives and more people can have fun trying to guess his identity." Ron nodded and smiled as he started gathering their stuff while Hermione was packing her bag. "Besides, I think I know who it may be." The red head raised his eyebrows.

"Really, who do you think it is?" Ron asked Hermione who smiled as they started walking out the library; she playfully tapped his nose and started running. "HEY!" Ron shouted as he ran after her wondering if she did indeed know her hero's identity.


	3. Chapter 3

Hero chapter 3

It was breakfast time and the trio were eating their breakfast in the Great Hall when the daily prophet owls came through the windows to deliver the mail. Hermione bought one of the newspapers while Harry and Ron were wolfing down their food and shouted, "Hey guys! Look at this!" Hermione showed her friends the front page which read: "THE RED ARCHER BURNT". Sitting in front of their eyes was a picture of the hero who was holding his right upper arm as he started walking away. "The Red Archer saved a family from a burning house in Hogsmeade but unfortunately when the smallest child of the Williams, the owners of the house, was about to escape through the window, part of the wall fell on top of them. The Red Archer's right arm took the impact, but everyone was safe as fire-fighters were able to douse the fire. The hero left without a trace making people wonder about the identity of this hero." Hermione watched the picture then Harry clamped on Ron's right arm making him hiss in pain.

"Sorry mate are you alright?" Harry asked worriedly to Ron, who nodded then spoke,

"Yeah my arm hurts a little." Ron commented making Harry nod while Hermione was suspicious about his arm.

"So the push ups you do before you go to bed are finally getting to you?" Harry winked at Ron who frowned while Hermione and the other Gryffindor girls listened to their conversation. "Yeah you would do what fifty before going to sleep, determined to get muscles?" Ron kicked Harry in the shin making him cry out in pain while Ron got up and started walking away. "Where are you going?" he asked Ron who smirked.

"Getting ready to go to Hogsmeade, while you stay here alone, mate." Harry playfully glared at Ron who smiled then continued, "I'll get you something I promise." He saluted Harry using his forefinger and middle finger before turning to leave. Ron unbuttoned his white school shirt and took it off leaving him in his dark blue undershirt; his right upper arm was bandaged and knew he needed to conceal it. He walked over to his trunk to get out his dark green long sleeve shirt and then picked up his black jeans and put them on. He then went under his bed and got his brown work boots. Finally, picking up his black and blue winter jacket, he headed downstairs where Harry was working on his homework essay for Snape while Hermione patiently waited for Ron. "Harry, sorry you can't come today with us." Ron felt sorry for Harry, who just shrugged then replied,

"I'll be fine here, you two have fun." Harry pushed Ron and Hermione towards the exit. "Bye" Ron and Hermione waved goodbye before they left for Hogsmeade.

When they got to Hogsmeade, Hermione turned to Ron. "Where do you want to go?" She asked Ron who shrugged then smiled at her.

"It's up to you; I've been here lots of times with my parents so you choose… I promise I won't complain." Ron playfully drew a cross on his heart with his finger making Hermione smile and raise an eyebrow at him.

"So if we went to the bookstore…" Ron's eyes widened then sighed and gave her a small smile.

"I won't complain as I'm a man of my words." Hermione smiled at Ron who she knew wasn't a fan of books but then feeling kind she spoke,

"I won't put you through the torture." Ron and Hermione smiled as they continued to walk down the cobbled snow covered path way, enjoying their time together.

"Want to get a drink?" Ron asked as he rubbed his hands together and blew some of his breath into his hands before rubbing them again. Hermione thought for a moment, nodded, then replied,

"Yeah, sure." Ron grabbed Hermione's small hand and they started running fast. "Whoa, Ron! Slow down please!" Hermione shouted as he kept dragging her but Ron didn't stop.

"I want to get out of this flipping cold weather!" Hermione smiled at how childish he could be; she also noticed that his hands were very large compared to hers (which she appreciated) when Ron suddenly stopped at a pub called The Three Broomsticks. Hermione bumped into his tall lean frame and was about to fall backwards but luckily Ron had quick reflexes and caught her before she fell. "Careful… come on lets go in." They went inside and found a table near the window and waited for someone to serve them. Ron was watching the snowflakes gently fall and Hermione watched Ron's blue eyes get lighter in happiness as he looked at the tiny snowflakes. An attractive woman that was curvy and a pretty face then suddenly popped over to take their order.

"Hi my name is Rosmerta and I'll be your server today- what would you like?" She asked them.

"I'll have some hot chocolate please" Hermione asked the waitress who smiled, nodded then turned to Ron.

"I'll have some hot chocolate too." Ron smiled at her before looking out the window again.

"So two hot chocolates?" The two nodded as the waitress left and Hermione could see some of the male students in their class and older looking at Rosmerta; she then looked at Ron expecting him to do the same but he didn't as he was drumming his fingernails on the wooden table creating a small rhythmic beat. Ron saw from the rooftop across the next building a black eagle that had a red handkerchief around his neck which made Ron a little confused and suspicious. As Ron kept staring at the strange sight, Rosemerta arrived with the orders.

"Thanks" They said at the same time but Ron kept looking at the eagle who was watching him. Hermione kept watching Ron carefully and saw that his train of thought was stopped by a child's scream. "UNCLE RON!" Ron and Hermione turned to see Nicky and Ally running as fast they could towards Ron who lifted both up in the air and gave them a bear hug making them giggle. Hermione smiled at the scene as the twins' parents entered and walked over to them. "Hello guys" They looked at the two teenagers who smiled and said their hellos.

"Morgan can you keep Hermione company? I need to do something." Morgan understood and nodded as they took a seat. "Be right back." Ron told Hermione before running out The Three Broomsticks, leaving Hermione confused.

After thirty minutes of Ron's absence, he finally came back and sat back down across from Hermione and placed Ally on his lap while Nicky was on her father's lap. Hermione looked at Ron's hair that looked ruffled and pointed in different directions which made her suspicious but didn't say anything. "So what's up guys?" Ron asked the twin girls who spoke simultaneously making everyone else laugh while Ron smiled and nodded to everything. When they finished speaking, Ron just smiled and started to tickle Ally making her giggle in delight but suddenly remembered that he still had to show Hermione around Hogsmeade. "Sorry guys but we need to go- see you later!" The family waved goodbye while the two teens walked out. While they were walking, Ron noticed Hermione was watching his every move which made him a little uncomfortable. "Can I help you Hermione?" Ron asked Hermione who snapped out her reverie and shook her head as they continued to walk. "Whoa" Ron said with amazement as he stopped to stare at a scary looking building that was falling apart. "It's the shrieking shack." Hermione turned her head to see what Ron was looking at.

"I read that it's the most haunted place in Britain." Hermione informed Ron who gulped at the information and spoke,

"Thanks for that Hermione." Ron said when he heard voices coming towards them; the two of them sighed as Draco, Crabbe and Blaise smirked at them.

"Ahh...look who it is boys- the blood traitor and the Mudblood." Ron clenched his fists so tight that his nails pierced through his palms and red blood started to come out. Hermione's eyes widened in shock at the sight. "Going house shopping with the Mudblood, are you Weasley?" Hermione watched Ron's eyes fill with fury and anger but kept his mouth shut.

"Ron." Hermione said softly as Ron flashed a glare at Hermione which made her be quiet; Draco was about to make another horrible comment to Ron but an arrow was shot only inches away from Draco's feet making the Slytherin students gasp in fear.

"You know, you aren't nice are you?" A voice questioned them as the Red Archer appeared in their sights. He slowly walked over to his arrow and pulled it out of the deep snow and put it back in his quiver with the rest of his other arrows. "Mate you're bleeding!" He shouted at Ron who looked at his fisted hand and saw blood coming out. "Here let me…" The hero reached into one of the pouches in his utility belt and pulled out the vial containing a shimmering blue liquid inside; he placed two drops of the blue liquid on both his palms and his injury started to face away as did the blood.

"Thanks" Ron said as he moved his hands as the Red Archer put the vial back. He started to walk away but stopped in his tracks, turned around, and smiled at Ron.

"Might want to put some medicine on your arm, mate." Ron glared at the hero who smirked before running away from Ron while Hermione looked at Ron in in confusion and spoke.

"What injury was he talking about Ron?" Hermione asked Ron who shook his head and whispered,

"It's nothing." Hermione grabbed his right upper arm making him groan in pain which made Hermione flinch her hand away quickly. "Ron, please show me your injury." Hermione begged Ron who was about to say no but then looked into to her brown eyes and saw she wasn't backing down. Ron sighed then took off his jacket and showed her his injury making her gasp as she saw his burn. She slowly placed her cold cool hand on his burns, making Ron gasp again. "Let's go back to Hogwarts and let you rest." Hermione said gently. With the pain Ron was in, he had no argument with Hermione's request.

That night Hermione couldn't sleep as her mind was still on Ron's injury; so after a few seconds, she gave up and got up from her bed and headed downstairs. Hermione looked out of the Common Room window and saw the Red Archer near the Black Lake sitting down, looking at the waters which made Hermione think this could be a chance to thank him and talk to him.

The Red Archer sighed as he played with his hands while thinking when he suddenly heard light footsteps coming towards him but he didn't worry as he knew the person was harmless. "Uhmm...Red Archer?" He turned to see the girl that he saved. He got up and dusted his trousers before clearing his throat to speak.

"Yes...Miss uhh..-" Hermione smiled then replied,

"Granger...my name is Hermione Granger." The Red Archer nodded. "I wanted to thank you for saving me and my family…and uhm, I think I know who you are…" Hermione saw the hero raise his eyebrow at her. "You are Ronald Weasley." Hermione crossed her arms in front of her chest and smirked.

"Oh really? Why is that?" He asked as her copied her pose making her frown as he smirked. "Prove it!" He challenged her.

"In the papers, it said that you burned your right arm and Ron had a burn on his right arm. Also, you and Ron use two fingers to say goodbye." The Red Archer was speechless but shook his head at her but Hermione persisted. "I know you are Ron." The Red Archer walk towards her in a sexy manner Hermione mused.

"Then unmask me." He whispered making Hermione blush as her shaky hands pulled down his hood to reveal his flaming red hair. Hermione sucked in her breath as her fingers slowly pulled off his sunglasses but when he opened his eyes, she gasped seeing that she was wrong. He had brown eyes, not the beautiful blue ones of Ron. She took a step back and lowered her head down in shame as the Red Archer picked up a pebble on the ground and skimmed it across the lake.

"I'm sorry…I thought…" Hermione started but the Red Archer just laughed as he picked up another stone and skimmed it across the lake.

"Good try though." He smiled at Hermione who took seat on the grass while the he looked at the black lake but slyly looked over towards her as well. "Hey Hermione, I'm sorry… I shouldn't lie to my best friend who went through all this trouble just to confront me." She looked at the Red Archer's eyes and saw blue, making her gasp in surprise. She then saw Ron smiling happily at her. "As usual you are right Hermione." Hermione hugged Ron who smiled and hugged her back. "We need to go back now- come on." Ron put his hood back up and his sunglasses on as they started to walk back to the castle. As they were nearing the entrance, Ron stopped which made Hermione confused.

"Why did you stop Ron?" She asked Ron who sighed and pointed at his clothes. "Oh right." Hermione sighed as Ron folded his bow in two and took his quiver off his back. He then unzipped his sleeveless hoodie (leaving him in his black undershirt), wrapped his sleeveless hoodie around his weapon, and then hid it inside a nearby tree before walking back to Hermione and the castle.

"Come on lets go." As Ron and Hermione were walking towards the entrance, Ron saw a dark shadow holding a knife. "Hey!" Ron shouted causing the man to run towards them so Ron quickly pushed Hermione away as he tried to grab the knife from him but the shadow dropped it and jumped through the windows. Ron covered his eyes so none of the glass shards got in his eyes then went over to Hermione and helped her up. "Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" Ron asked Hermione who shook her head. She then gasped when she saw teachers and Dumbledore, their Headmaster walking over towards them, knowing that they would be in trouble.

"What are you two doing out of bed?!" Professor McGonagall said sternly. Her eyes then widened in disbelief when she saw the knife on the floor. "What happened here? Explain yourselves!" Hermione was about to speak but Ron beat her to it and explained the situation.

"Well...you see Hermione and I were working on our homework when we heard a noise and this man had a knife but he ran away…we couldn't see his face clearly." Ron grinned hoping that the teachers would buy the story. After his feeble explanation, students started to come out and started whispering when they saw the scene unfolding.

"Alright everyone it seems we have an unwanted guest here in Hogwarts, so everyone will be sleeping in the Great Hall." Dumbledore announced. "Head of house please get all the students ready."

In the Great Hall, Ron couldn't sleep nor could Hermione who was sleeping above him while Harry was fast asleep. "Ron?!" Hermione whispered ever so quietly making Ron turn on his stomach and cross his arms on top of his pillow.

"Yeah?" He whispered as quietly. "Is something wrong?" He asked Hermione who copied his position.

"How's your arm?" Ron looked at his bandaged arm and smiled at Hermione.

"It's fine…it's just a little sore but I'll live." Ron flashed a grin at her making her smile. "We should try and get some sleep- we have a math test tomorrow." Ron turned and tried to sleep, thinking about the intruder.

It was their math mock test and Hermione was on the fifth question while everyone else was two pages behind her which she read over and over. She had two more pages left and pressed on. _"__A girl went to a horse race and she forgot to count the horses and humans there, but she knows there are 196 legs and 74 heads. How many horses and humans were there at the horse race?"_Hermione racked her brain thinking how to answer the question; she then slyly looked to her right and saw that was Ron finished as he was patiently waiting for the test to be over.

'There is no way that Ron finished; we have twenty minutes left of the test, how the- never mind, I need to finish this test, so the answer is 49 people and 37 horses'. McGonagall then went over to Ron and whispered something. After a few minutes, Ron gathered his stuff and left the classroom. Everyone thought Ron found the test too difficult and gave up, wondering if they would do the same as Ron. Hermione finished the test with five minutes to spare so she used the time to triple check her answers. She had one minute left so she looked outside and saw Ron sitting on grass as he was drawing something which aroused Hermione's curiosity.

Their next lesson was Defence Against the Dark Arts with Lupin but when they got there, they saw Snape teaching. Hermione sat next to Harry while Ron sat next to Neville. "Now I want you to write three rolls of parchment on Werewolves."

"But sir the Quidditch house tournament is tomorrow!" Harry spoke making everyone nod while Snape smirked.

"Well you better work on it tonight...get out." He spoke snidely as the bell rang.

That night Hermione finished Snape's essay and other homework while Ron and Harry and the other students were writing their essay. "The Red Arrow" Lavender sighed dreamily. "I wonder what he looks like." She asked the other the girls around her who also sighed happily thinking about the hero. "Well he has to be fit; I mean someone with that kind of body can't be ugly." Ron blushed as he looked down at his homework not wanting to look up or be noticed but Hermione secretly smiled at Ron who looked like he would explode in embarrassment as the girls continued. "I heard he is around our age, so if you get to pick who the Red Archer is out of all the boys in Gryffindor, who would you pick?" After a few seconds the girls shouted different names but the name that was mostly mentioned was Harry. At this, Hermione saw Ron clench his left hand tightly as his other hand was writing the homework.

Harry blushed, got up, then said goodnight before going upstairs which made the girls start to gossip. "I bet it is Harry." The girls squealed making Hermione roll her eyes while Ron continued to work on the essay. An hour had passed and it was only Ron and Hermione left in the Common Room while everyone else was asleep in the dorm. "You okay?" Hermione asked Ron who wrote the last word in his essay and then showed it to Hermione.

"Could you please proofread it?" Ron asked Hermione without looking into her eyes; she knew that action meant that he didn't want to talk about it so Hermione nodded and started reading Ron's homework as Ron just stared into the dying fire. After a few minutes, she finished correcting his mistakes and handed it back to him. "Thanks" Ron rolled the parchment and put it in his backpack.

"Ron, are you alright?" He was mute. "You can tell me anything, you know that, right?" Hermione sighed as she stood up. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow Ron, goodnight." As she was about to walk away Ron spoke.

"Did you think it was Harry before you knew?" Hermione smiled and shook her head.

"I could instantly tell that it wasn't Harry. I mean no offence but without his glasses he's practically blind, and besides Harry has too much on his plate right now; and you look better in dark red than Harry." Ron smiled and muttered thanks. "Goodnight Ronald." Ron muttered goodnight to her before she headed upstairs to her room to sleep while Ron reached for his bag and pulled out a black leather book and opened it up to his newest drawing. It was a beautiful drawing of Hermione and him when they were walking through Hogsmeade. _'If people knew… it will put them danger.' _That advice from his mentor echoed through his head making him run his hand through his red hair and whispered. "What have I done?" Ron then heard scuttling around the Common Room which made him look around to see a small black shadow move towards the open window. Ron tried to catch it but it was gone. "What the bloody hell?" Suddenly the black eagle landed on the other widow and Ron got up and untied the letter from its leg. Ron read it aloud:

_Same place. _Ron sighed as he sneaked out of the castle to Hagrid's hut. He knocked on the door three times and waited. After a few seconds, Hagrid opened it and ushered him in. "Welcome Ron" He entered and saw his mentor with a sad smile. He was wearing the Red Archer costume (but this one was tattered) and he had his hood down showing his black but greying hair and a cut on his left eyebrow.

"Sir" Ron bowed making him shake his head and replied,

"No need for that. Ron we talked about this, she will be in danger now." Ron knew the "she" he was talking about was Hermione. "You know the rules." He said to Ron who lowered his head and clenched his hands into a fist while Hagrid just sighed and watched. "Do you want her to get hurt? Do you want her to be killed, do you want to be responsible for her death?!" Ron's eyes flashed in anger and shouted,

"NO!" His outburst shocked his mentor a bit but then Ron composed his anger and took a deep breath. "I know sir, but if Hermione knows, then I don't have to keep lying to her. Also, I don't want anything to happen to her… I will do anything to protect her." His mentor just shook his head.

"If Hermione and hundreds of witches and wizards were captured and you can only save one, who will it be?" He asked Ron who closed his eyes and looked down. "Well?!" Ron shook his head not wanting to give an answer. "Hermione is just a Mugglebor-"Ron punched him square in the face making him fall on the floor.

"Don't you dare call Hermione just a Muggleborn." Hagrid smiled at Ron who raised his right fist. "I swear one word against her, and I will not hesitate to-" he was cut off by his mentor who started to laugh as he wiped the blood off with his arm and got off the floor.

"It's okay Ron; I just wanted to see how you felt about the girl." Ron blushed a little making his mentor smile at him. "Your choice and your responsibility of the outcome of your choices understand?" Ron nodded making him clamp his hands on Ron's shoulder and patted him gently.

"Ron, Hermione" Harry moved towards them "it's...it's Buckbeak, they're going to kill him." He gasped for air.

"What!?" Hermione and Ron said at the same time as Harry grabbed their hands and led them outside where they saw Draco and his goons watching from afar. "Great" Ron sighed then Hermione stomped towards the three.

"Ahh come to see the show?" Draco smirked which made Hermione frown angrily and whip out her wand. She pointed it at Draco who closed his eyes, waiting for the curse. But Ron placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head at Hermione.

"It's not worth it Hermione." Hermione sighed then lowered her wand and was about to walk away with Ron but Draco decided to egg Hermione further.

"Yeah that's right walk away you filthy little Mu-" Ron was about to turn and punch him but Hermione beat him too it and punched Draco making him groan in pain as blood came out of his nose. Shocked yet also amused by the action, the guys watched Draco and his goons run away while Harry and Ron just looked at Hermione who shrugged sheepishly.

"That felt good." Ron and Harry smiled at her but their smiles faded when they saw the executioner raise his axe to finish off the hippogriff. Hermione closed her eyes and hugged Ron for comfort as he hugged her back. They then heard growling behind them and they saw a large black dog with Scabbers in his mouth running towards them. The animal rushed past them quickly. "SCABBERS!" Ron started running after the dog while Hermione and Harry ran after him.

"Ron get out of there!" Ron looked to see he was underneath the Whomping Willow and felt one of the branches grab his leg and pull him in. "RON!"

A few moments later, Ron opened his eyes and saw he was inside the Shrieking Shack. "What the bloody-?" Ron got up and followed the paw prints on the floor into a room where he saw Scabbers inside a cage; Ron walked over and was about to free the rat when someone spoke.

"I wouldn't if I was you." Ron turned and saw Sirius Black who had the intent to kill. "Ahh...we'll I'll be, the hero." Ron gulped as he silently reached for his wand that was in his back jeans pocket when the door burst open revealing Remus who quickly said Stupefy at Ron causing him to fly towards the wall.

"Ron" Remus ran over to Ron to check his condition but he was out cold. "Hey wake up" But he didn't respond. "I'm sorry Ron I thought you were-" he was interrupted by a shout.

"RON!" Hermione ran over to Ron while Harry pointed his wand at the two men.

"Don't worry he's just out cold." Sirius explained but Harry kept pointing his wand at him ready to cast a spell. "Harry long time no see." Sirius took a step and stopped when Harry made to cast a spell dangerously close to his feet. "Look Harry, I didn't kill your parents."

"Then who did!?" Harry shouted as Ron woke up and saw Sirius and Remus talking to Harry.

"Peter Pettigrew." Remus explained to Harry. "He sold your parents to Voldemort and he is in the room now." Ron looked over to where Scabbers was as Remus opened the cage and roughly grabbed the fat rat in his hands. Pointing his wand at the rat, he watched the rat transform into a man who was on his knees begging to be spared as Ron closed his eyes.

Ron felt his arms around two people; he opened his eyes and saw it was Sirius and Harry carrying him out of the Shrieking Shack and placed him on grass gently. "What happened?" Ron asked as he put his hand on his head as he felt a headache coming.

"Pettigrew got away." Sirius informed Ron who nodded then looked at Remus who started shaking as he looked at the moon.

"RON! HARRY! He's a werewolf!" Hermione shouted as they looked at their teacher who started to show canine features. Sirius quickly transformed into a black dog then attacked Remus to get him away from them.

"RON!" Someone shouted as the Red Archer appeared in front of them. "They are coming!" Ron's eyes widened in shock and turned to Hermione and Harry and quickly spoke.

"I need to go!" The Red Archer took one of Ron's arms and wrapped it around his neck as they disappeared in a blast of smoke. Harry looked confused then stared at Hermione who only shrugged.

An hour had passed with Remus in the Hospital wing resting while Sirius talked to Harry about what he would do with his life. Hermione was looking in the hospital wing waiting for Ron when suddenly the door burst open revealing Ron who was heavily bleeding on his right side. The Red Archer helped him towards the bed as Madam Pomfrey ran over and gasped when she saw Ron bleeding heavily.

"What happened?" She asked as the Red Archer ripped Ron's shirt showing his wound that looked like he was stabbed by a sword; she applied pressure on his wound to stop the blood but it was pouring too fast.

"Ambush…Ron got stabbed…" Madam Pomfrey nodded as she treated Ron's wound but Ron started to breathe faster. "Ron!" Hermione shouted as Ron started to breathe even faster.

"RON!" Hermione then ran over to him and held his right hand tightly. "Please be alright!" She cried as tears started to fall from her face as Ron's hands weakly squeezed her hand. His breathing started to slow down. Madame Pomfrey placed her hand on Ron's left chest to feel his heartbeat but noticed that it started to gradually decrease.

"Mr Weasley, stay with us." Madame Pomfrey spoke then gasped when Ron's heartbeat stopped.

"Ronald...Ronald please…" Hermione begged Ron who didn't move. "No, no, NO!" Harry then came into the room with a smile that faded quickly when he saw his best friend still.

"RON!" Harry ran over to his best mate and watched as Dumbledore entered the hospital wing. He walked over to Ron's bedside then closed his eyes using his fingers. Hermione sat there stunned, unable to move while Harry just kept staring. Seeing the distraught friends, Dumbledore quietly but urgently spoke to the pair.

"You can save lives tonight; I assume you know what I mean Miss Granger?" Hermione nodded wearily, making Dumbledore smile. "Three turns would suffice." He then turned to the Red Archer. "I need to speak to you old friend." The hero nodded and followed the headmaster outside.

Hermione pulled out her necklace and showed it to Harry and wrapped it around his and her necks. "What on earth is this?" Harry asked Hermione who explained.

"It's a time turner. It has helped me get to all my lessons all year." She started to twist it three times. Then they saw everything moving backwards and when it was done, Harry was amazed to see they had travelled back in time.

"I think I know what we need to do." Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and they started running towards Hagrid's hut. "I think Dumbledore wanted us to save Buckbeak in order to save Ron." They quickly ran down to the hut and hid behind the large pumpkins from the Minister of Magic and some of the Hogwarts staff. Hermione picked up the dead ferrets and showed it to Buckbeak and made him move, allowing for him to escape.

An hour had passed when they watched from the distance where they could see their past selves; Ron and the Red Archer were walking towards them so they quickly hid behind some trees where they could not be seen or heard.

Ron zipped up his Red Archer outfit making Harry's mouth gape open when he figured out that his best friend was the famous hero. "Do you have my-" Ron was stopped by his mentor who placed his index fingers on his lips to signal him to be quiet. Suddenly they were surrounded by hooded shadows and stood still thinking of a plan.

"Well this is a surprise...the new and the original Red Archer." They took their fighting stances as the hooded shadows drew their long swords and attacked them; the heroes then detached their bows that turned into two swords. Ron suddenly felt a sharp pain on his side and looked down and saw one of the shadow's swords pierce him through. "That's enough- we need to go." Then they all disappeared while the older Red Archer applied pressure on Ron's wound.

"Come on mate, hang on." Ron gritted his teeth as Hermione turned to Harry and whispered to him.

"We have to give Buckbeak to them so they can quickly fly to the Hospital wing." Harry understood her plan as he watched Hermione throw the last ferret close to Ron and the Red Archer.

"Buckbeak?" The Red Archer spoke then lifted Ron up. "Keep pressure on the wound." Ron did what his mentor told him as Buckbeak flew Ron to Hogwarts.

"Come on, we need to get back." Hermione and Harry sprinted back to the castle to the Hospital wing. When they got there, they saw Ron's torso wrapped in bandages and was breathing while the Weasleys were beside him. Molly sobbed in happiness that her youngest son was okay and when she saw Hermione and Harry, she ran over to them and gave them a motherly hug and whispered in their ears,

"Thank god you're alright." Hermione watched Ron's steady breathing and then Adam Peters, the Auror, appear with Dumbledore. They walked over to the Weasleys and looked at Ron with a smile; Peters reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box revealing a silver watch. He placed it on Ron's bedside table. "The Red Archer wanted to give you this."

The next day, Hermione and Harry were eating breakfast when Neville shouted "Guys! Look! It's Ron!" Everyone craned their heads towards the Great Hall doors showing Ron in his uniform but his white shirt was unbuttoned showing his bandages. He slowly walked towards Harry and Hermione as the Gryffindors clapped for him. "Ron" Harry hugged Ron lightly so he didn't get hurt. Hermione forgetting that he was injured, she hugged him so tight that it caused Ron to wince and groan in pain.

"Her-mi-one a little tight." He gasped out making Hermione release her hold and blush as she apologized to Ron who laughed and hugged her weakly. He then took a seat next to Harry and sat down gingerly.

"How are you Ron?" Seamus asked Ron who smiled and replied,

"I'm fine- a little sore." Ron took a drink of water as Hedwig came in with a broom shaped package. Harry's owl dropped it in front of Harry. "Are you going to open it mate?" Ron asked before taking a bite out of his toast as Harry started to open the package while everyone watched his every move. When the package was fully unwrapped, it revealed a Firebolt, the fastest broom ever made. "Whoa cool mate, let's take it out for a test run!" Harry nodded as he grabbed his new broom and ran outside while Hermione helped Ron go outside. "Thanks Hermione." Hermione again blushed and followed Ron and the others to watch Harry's test flight. Harry got on the broom and within seconds had taken off like a speeding bullet into the air.

Next chapter-Goblet of Fire


	4. GOF part 1

Goblet of Fire Part 1

Ron wearing his Red Archer costume, stood on top of a building looking into the city of London filled with cheerful lights and cheerful people walking through the streets; but Ron knew there would be trouble in dark alleyways and was on the alert. As Ron was pondering things, he felt someone clamp a hand on his shoulder, giving him a heart attack. He turned to see his other mentor wearing his hero costume; it was similar to the Red Archer's costume but had black letters that interlocked "BA" on his chest. His mentor was known as the Black Arrow, Ron's partner. Realizing it was his partner, and not someone sinister, Ron relaxed. "What's up sir?" Ron asked his mentor who sighed and shook his head as he sighed.

"You shouldn't be walking Ron, your injury-" Ron interrupted him by shushing him then pointed to the woman who was being followed by two mean looking men. "Let me take care of this Ron; you need to go and rest." But Ron didn't listen as he quietly jumped down making Black Arrow tiredly sigh and mutter "stubborn little-" but stopped his thoughts. He was worried about Ron's injury that he received a few weeks ago in his third year at Hogwarts. Although Ron wouldn't admit it, he could tell that Ron was in a lot of pain and he knew that it was from his injury that he got when he was stabbed, but he didn't let that get in his way of being Red Archer. The two heroes put their conversation on hold as they saw the woman being accosted.

One of the men roughly grabbed the woman who started screaming and struggling, making the men laugh before one of them said, "No one's going to save you lady." Her mouth was covered so her scream of terror was muffled when a large hand clamped on the man's shoulder roughly; taken off guard, the thug didn't know what was happening as the Red Archer covered the assailant's mouth and then knocked him out. Not knowing his partner was in trouble, the other man kept his grip on the woman. "Hey mate; you want a turn with this bird?" The man asked his partner, "Mate?" He turned to see the Black Arrow looking angry, with his arms folded in front of his chest making the man gulp as he placed the poor scared woman lightly on the floor. Upon helping the woman, Black Arrow saw the Red Archer appear with his unconscious partner and place him on the floor next to his partner, whom the Black Arrow had knocked out.

"Come on miss; let's get you out of here." Ron held his hand and the woman quickly took it. Before they left Ron said, "He's not in a good mood." The woman just simply nodded, still in shock. When the police finally arrived to pick up the thugs, they saw both of them hanging upside down and their faces red due to the blood rushing to their heads. Running over to the captured men, the policemen saw a coin taped to their foreheads containing the Red Archer's emblem and the other, the initial BA. Baffled by this, they pushed aside this clue and arrested the two men.

"Ron, it's like two in the morning, son. You need to go home before your parents or siblings find out you're missing." Ron nodded and started to run back to his home, the Burrow. Ron knew it would take an hour to reach his home but he was used to long distances and could run for hours due to his training from his mentor; however, his injury was hurting him and caused him to stop for a few seconds, delaying his mission to get home. Panting through the pain, Ron finally reached home around half past three. He didn't use the front door since it was creaky and would wake up the whole house, exposing his absence. He also knew that the stairs would make noise so he decided to climb the Burrow walls to get to his room making sure to dodge the windows so nobody in the house could see him.

When he got in his room, he changed out of his costume. He put on his black shorts then looked at his reflection in his mirror. He looked at the injury that still pained him a little bit then noticed he had grown a few inches taller than last time. 'When did I grow this tall?' he mused to himself. Still admiring his reflection and the changes, he looked at his clock and saw it was four in the morning. He suddenly remembered that Hermione and Harry were coming over early in the morning. He was excited as not only was he going to see his two best mates (one being the girl he was madly in love with) but was also going to attend the Quidditch World Cup, thanks to his father winning tickets at work.

Ron lay in his bed and slept for two hours. Almost falling in a dead sleep, he heard the door open and his mother happily greeting the Grangers. Ron groaned as he placed his right hand on his injury and painfully got up to head downstairs but hissed in pain with each step he took. When he finally got to the bottom, he saw the Grangers looking at him with sympathy while Ron nodded to them a good morning before heading to the kitchen to get a cold drink of water. He leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen door, trying to get some relief. "Still hurting Ron?" Mrs Granger asked Ron who smiled a bit uncomfortably and replied,

"Just a little ma'am- a little sore but I'll live." Mrs Granger smiled as she drank the tea Molly made for them but Mr Granger looked at Ron making him feel further uncomfortable. "Uhm, er, can I help you Mr Granger?" Ron asked Hermione's father who smiled apologetically at Ron.

"Sorry but I just noticed you got a lot taller the last time I saw you." Ron smiled as he finished his water when Molly became aware that Ron looked tired and had bags under his eyes.

"Ron have you been sleeping okay, you look tired, dear." Ron shrugged, and then lied to his mother which made him feel like he'd been punched in his stomach.

"Yeah...I just can't really sleep due to the summer heat." Molly sighed as she started cooking breakfast while Ron rubbed his tired eyes and yawned. Suddenly, he saw the owl post land in the kitchen and watched as his mother bought a newspaper. Molly placed the newspaper on the counter as Ron walked past and saw the front page making his eyes widen in surprise and ask, "Mum can I take this?" Molly nodded before turning back to cook their breakfast while Ron took the newspaper to read. He read the front page to himself. "BLACK ARROW AND RED ARCHER: BOUNTY." He saw a picture of the Red Archer and Black Arrow on the rooftop with bows aimed ready to fire making Ron sigh as he kept reading. _"The Red Archer and the Black Arrow are wanted by the Ministry of Magic for trying to expose the Wizarding World to the Muggles; fifteen thousand galleons are offered for anyone who has any information about them. Of important interest, for the young ladies out there, sources say that there's a new Red Archer and said to be around fourteen to sixteen years old- so girls he might be in your school, so watch out!" -by Rita Skeeter_. Ron sighed knowing that the reporter was not going to give upabout knowing about his secret life but he knew that she wasn't smart enough to know who the Red Archer really was… and he would like to keep it that way.

"Ron may I look at the paper?" Mr Granger asked as Ron nodded and handed him the newspaper. He then rose from his seat and walked over to help his mother place the food, plates and utensils on the table. "I can't believe that they would place a bounty on the Red Archer; he's not doing anything wrong other than saving people's lives." Mr Granger complained while Hermione shyly smiled at Ron who was too busy laying out the table.

"People are scared Mr Granger, the Ministry is afraid that he would expose the Wizarding World." Ron explained as Molly handed him two more plates full of eggs and bacon with sausages.

"But how?" Mrs Granger jumped in as Ron placed the two plates on the table.

"Well, Fred and George say his arrows have magic inside so that means it's kinda exposing magic to Muggles." Ron informed them making the Grangers nod as Ron got ice cold water in a glass jug to bring to the table. He then saw his mother appear with more plates of food.

"Would you like some breakfast?" Ron's mum smiled happily at the Grangers who smiled and replied,

"Sure that would be great Molly. Everything looks delicious!" Mrs Granger said happily as they took a seat and started eating as the Weasley siblings started pouring in to dine on their massive breakfast. Ron, however, didn't eat as much as usual which made all the Weasleys and Hermione curious to his mood.

"I need to do something upstairs mum, thanks for breakfast." Ron put his empty plate in the sink and ran upstairs as Molly called after him.

"Pack your bag while you're up there!"

"OKAY!" Ron shouted as he reached his room and locked the door. When he got inside, he saw the Black Arrow and Red Archer standing tall in front of him. "What are you guys doing here?" Ron asked as he walked over to his wardrobe and pulled out a couple of clothes he would need.

"Ron we're afraid that Voldemort will be trying something at the Quidditch World Cup." The Red Archer took off his hood and sunglasses, revealing Adam Peters, who looked depressed at what he told his student. Ron just pushed his wardrobe aside displaying a small safe which contained his Red Archer costume; he was about to grab it but the Black Arrow stopped him.

"No. Ron you're too injured and if you go missing, people might be suspicious… don't worry, we'll be there." Ron turned to see the Black Arrow with his hood down revealing Morgan with a small smile on his face that gave Ron some reassurance. "Nothing will happen I promise." Ron sighed and closed his safe and pulled his wardrobe back in its place as he packed his bag. "Have fun Ron." He turned to say goodbye but they were already gone making Ron lightly scoff as he smiled.

Ron bent to pick up his backpack, making him groan in pain and clutch his sides as he stood up. He hoisted the backpack further, continuing to writhe a bit in pain and then headed downstairs where he saw that Hermione's parents had already left and all his siblings were in their room packing. Ron got downstairs where he saw Molly washing the dishes while humming a merry tune.

"Mum where's Hermione?" Ron asked his mother who nudged towards the pond where he could see Hermione sitting on the bank with her jeans rolled up to her knees and her feet touching the cold water. "Thanks." Ron walked silently over to Hermione then clamped his hands on her shoulders causing her to scream while Ron laughed as he took a seat next to her and rolled up his jeans. Hermione was catching her breath then slapped Ron's arm and frowned at him.

"You're so mean!" She complained making Ron smirk then winked at her playfully before apologizing.

"Sorry...sorry couldn't resist" when a fish jumped out of the water and back into the water making Hermione pull her feet up and hug her knees making Ron sigh. Deciding to use this moment to tell Hermione something, Ron began speaking. "Hermione you know whether I'm in my Red Archer costume or out of it, I will always save you no matter what, right?" Ron promised Hermione, who smiled. "Hey I promise I will do everything I can to protect you from anything and if Red Archer needs to give up his identity in order save you, he will." Hermione gasped and shook her head.

"Ron there are more important people than me." Ron sighed and shook his head in disagreement.

"Hermione you're one of my important people; I will do anything for the people I care about and love… even if means putting myself in danger or dying." Hermione shook her head vehemently and said panicked,

"You are not going to die Ron, do you hear me!" Hermione shouted at Ron who smiled. He then looked at his watch Adam gave him last year and then looked at his silver necklace; unhooking the chain, he showed it to Hermione who looked confused. She noticed that the silver necklace had a carving of angel wings. Taking it in his hand, Ron moved to it to his best friend.

"Whenever you need the Red Archer or me at any time or place, he'll be there." Hermione didn't take it making Ron take her right hand and place it in her palm. "I will always be there for you, Hermione… think of the Red Archer as your own personal guardian angel." Hermione looked admiringly at the necklace. "May I?" Ron asked and Hermione nodded as Ron picked up the necklace. Reaching around her neck, Ron put on the necklace and locked it in place. Hermione and Ron sat and stared at each other lovingly, when Ron looked at his watch and said, "Come on let's get back." Hermione and Ron stood up; however, Hermione was feeling rather playful and she pushed Ron into the pond causing him to make a huge splash while she started running towards the Burrow. "OI!" Ron shouted as he got out of the pond soaking wet then started laughing as he made his way to the Burrow, ready to get revenge on Hermione. He was about to step inside when his mother stopped him.

"Ron! Why are you soaking wet?" Ron pointed at Hermione who was giggling with Ginny.

"Hermione pushed me into the pond." He blamed it on Hermione who playfully played innocent whilst Ginny was sniggering at her older brother. "Can I come inside?" Molly shook her head making Ron groan in annoyance. "Why?!" He asked his mother in his "I can make my mum do anything for me" voice. Molly left to get him a towel and told him,

"I don't want you dripping on the floor…it took me a whole two hours to clean, Ronald." She then handed Ron the towel. "Now take off your shirt and I'll get you a new one." Ron did as he was told, leaving him shirtless in the garden; taking off his shirt, Ron swore he heard Hermione gasp in shock. Taking a look at himself, he realized why she had gasped. Due to his constant training to be the Red Archer, he had gained lots of muscle; in fact, his body was pure muscle and no fat anywhere. Ron dried himself with his towel as his mother came back with a fresh shirt for him to wear. Ron put his shirt on but his trousers were still wet too. Rather than leaving to get dry trousers, Molly simply waved her wand and dried Ron off. "Why couldn't you just do that in the first place mum?" Ron asked his mother who playfully shrugged then whispered in his ear.

"It's a little payback for her pushing you into the water. I wanted her to feel a tiny bit of guilt." Ron blushed while Molly playfully smiled at her son before going inside and then saw Harry and his father appear in the fireplace covered with soot.

"Hey Harry!" Ron threw the towel he used and gave it to Harry to clean off the soot.

"Thanks mate." After Harry was done, Ron took the towel and threw it backwards and shot it in the washing basket. "Nice shot" He said impressed at his best friend as Harry leaned in closer and whispered, "I can't believe you're the Red Archer by the way, mate." Ron placed his index finger on his lips to tell Harry to keep it a secret. "Right…sorry."

"So you ready?" Harry nodded as Arthur patted Ron on the back but Ron didn't budge.

"Been working out Ron?" Arthur asked Ron. "Your body is pure muscle, my boy!" Ron quickly thought of an excuse.

"Must be all the degnoming I've been doing all summer." Arthur, accepting this as a good answer, smiled then went over to Molly and kissed her on the cheek while Ron smiled in relief.

"Alright you guys let's go!" Arthur shouted upstairs for his daughter and the twins as Ron, Hermione and Harry were waiting at the door. "Alright dad, let's get to that World Cup!" shouted the twins in unison. Arthur, smiling at the twins' enthusiasm grabbed what they needed and made their way to the door.

As they started their trek through the forest, Ron saw in the corner of his eye Adam's black eagle watching them as they walked. He smiled to himself, knowing that his loved ones were being safely watched. They finally made it to the top of the hill where they saw a smelly old boot which made the twins groan in annoyance. "Sorry you guys- the only way."

"I hate this type of transportation." Fred complained and Ron laughed a little as the Weasleys gathered around the old boot while Harry and Hermione just stood there looking perplexed. Seeing the look of confusion on their faces, the family of red heads held on the boot and got the attention of the two teens.

"Guys! Quick! Hold on!" Ron shouted as his best friends quickly held onto the boot as it started to rise up and spin them madly around, making them a little sick.

"LET GO!" Arthur shouted and everyone did as ordered as they let go and all fell to the ground. Ron found himself landing painfully on his back and slowly started to get up when he felt Hermione land on top of him.

"Oww" Ron wheezed as Hermione quickly got off him and apologized making Ron painfully smile. Forgetting his own pain momentarily, he asked "You alright?" She nodded as she helped Ron up on his feet. "Thanks...Harry?" They went to check their best friend who looked like he was seeing doubles of his friends. "Come on mate" Ron laughed as he took Harry's arm and put it around his neck and helped him walk.

After enjoying the excitement of the Quidditch game, the Weasleys, Hermione and Harry were in their tent talking, laughing and having fun but Ron was still worried about what the Dark Lord might be planning. "Ron?" Arthur called out to his son who was spacing out. "Ron?" His youngest son snapped out of his daze and gave him a small smile.

"Sorry dad, just thinking." Arthur pulled a weird look at Ron who just smiled when suddenly, they heard screams outside. "Something's not right." Ron and his father peered out of their tent entrance and saw people running away from something. "We need to leave…now!" Arthur agreed with his youngest son and stood up with his backpack.

"Guys we need to leave!" Everyone got up with worried looks on their faces. "Let's go!" Everyone ran out of their tent, quickly. "We need to get back to the portkey, let's go!" Everyone started running with the crowd, but Hermione was getting slowly separated from the Weasleys and Harry. Ron noticed Hermione getting further and further away.

"DAD we'll meet you there!" Ron started pushing through the waves of people who were screaming and running away.

"ROOOON!" Arthur shouted but was being pushed back by the people. Ron kept pushing as he swam through the sea of screaming panicking people, and breathed a sigh of relief when he finally reached Hermione. He held her hand tightly when they saw people wearing black robes and masks covering their faces walking with wands being waved in the air, sending deadly spells.

"Bloody hell- Death Eaters!" Ron led Hermione behind a tent so they couldn't be seen.

"Death Eaters?" Hermione whispered to Ron who nodded then whispered back to Hermione.

"Dark Lord's servants." She gasped as Ron hugged her tighter to keep her safe.

"Where are they?" Ron said to himself as he looked then he scoffed, annoyed as he pulled out a metal tube. He turned the top of the tube which turned into his bow and quiver, full of arrows. Ron then took off his black hoodie and put it on Hermione and propped up the hood. He then reached into his backpack and took out his other hoodie which was dark blue and also put it up. "Cover up and stay close." Hermione nodded as Ron got an arrow and was at the ready when he saw one of the Death Eaters about to cast a spell at them but Ron quickly shot an arrow, hitting on impact causing him to freeze in a block of ice. As he was ready to shoot another arrow, someone came up behind them and grabbed her. "Hermione!" Ron turned to punch him but saw it was the Red Archer and the Black Arrow, making him exhale in relief.

"Ron what have we told you." the Red Archer sighed. "Put it away, now." Ron nodded and pressed something on his bow that made it turn back into the metal tube which he put in his back pocket. "Get out of here." Ron nodded and grabbed Hermione. As they started sprinting towards his family, he suddenly saw someone cast a spell on a plant nearby that grew and grabbed Hermione's legs causing her to fall on the floor.

"Hermione!" Ron shouted as he tried prying off the plant when someone came behind them. They saw one of the Death Eaters who kicked Ron in the face, causing him to fall on the floor as he cackled evilly; he then pulled out a short silver knife and stabbed Ron in the same place like last year causing his wound to open. Ron shouted in pain while Hermione was trying to get out of the plants' hold, desperate to help her best friend when the knife started to glow a dark green colour making the Death Eater laugh even more as he plunged the knife deeper inside Ron who still was shouting in pain. His hands were trying to get the sharp object off him but due to the loss of blood and the person's weight, they were quite weak when suddenly the man was hit by a spell as Ron blacked out.

Ron opened his eyes and saw he was in his room; Ron was shirtless but he had bandages on his wound like last year. He tried to get up but shouted in pain as he clutched his wound but forced himself to get up. He stayed in a sitting position before standing up which he regretted immediately because he felt his legs grow weak, causing him to fall back on the bed. "Come on" He forced himself to stand causing him to drunkly waddle towards the door. He then leaned against the wall so he could go downstairs, causing quite a bit of pain. Ron gritted his teeth and didn't stop until he was downstairs where he saw his mother talking to Adam Peters, a long-time family friend and a doctor for Red Archer and the Weasleys.

"Ron what are you doing out of bed?" Molly angrily asked her son who sat on the stairs and playfully shrugged at his parents.

"I'm fine mum- don't worry about me so much." Ron gave them a smile but Molly helped him up and walked him over to the couch where he could lay down.

"You need rest, love." Ron sighed but didn't argue as he just lay on the battered couch.

"Where's Harry and Hermione?" Ron asked as Adam walked over to Ron with his stethoscope around his neck; he then placed it on the redhead's chest and listened carefully to his heartbeat.

"Arthur has taken them and your siblings to Diagon Alley to get school supplies and yours as well." Ron nodded.

"Ron, I need to look at your wound and change the bandages." Adam told Ron who replied with a smile.

"Do what you need, Doc." Ron said playfully before he raised himself up just a bit so Adam could undo the bandages. The youngest son of the Weasleys saw his wound, noticing how deep it went.

"Okay Ron, Hermione told me that the knife glowed green or something like that… is that right?" Ron nodded. "I'm afraid that you might have some dark magic inside of you and we don't know how to get it out… but what we do know is if you get angry it will be difficult to stop you." Ron froze at the information. "However, I'll give some medication that you need to take once every week to control it, okay?" Ron just stiffly nodded as Molly went to make lunch for the family and their guests who would be arriving soon. Adam took this chance to whisper to Ron, "I'm afraid you are forbidden to be the Red Archer until we solve what's wrong with you, understand?" Ron shook his head, not wanting to believe him.

"But I can, I'll be fine…" Adam sighed and shook his head. "Look, I won't give up being Red Archer." Adam stared at Ron then started to smile at his stubbornness.

"Okay Mr Stubborn, when your injury is healed, I'll help you try and control yourself, okay?" Ron nodded. "But until then, promise me that you will not do any crime fighting until you can control it okay?" Ron nodded again, smiled and then whispered thank you as everyone returned from Diagon Alley. Adam finished putting the new clean bandages on Ron's wound as the Weasley siblings crowded around Ron who suddenly felt uncomfortable at the amount of attention. He was saved though when he saw his mother come barging in with a plate of macaroni and cheese.

"Give the poor boy some space, you lot." She handed Ron the plate. "Here you go love." Ron smiled and muttered thanks.

"Thanks mum but I can sit at the table." Molly shook her head as she handed her youngest son a glass of ice water.

"No, you will not move an inch…you will stay here and rest… understand?" Ron nodded, feeling woozy but started to eat anyway.

He didn't know how long he was out for prior to today, but knew it was more than two days because he was so hungry that he asked if he could have seconds then thirds and then fourth helpings.

"Wow Ron you're hungry!" Fred joked to Ron who just shrugged as he finished his drink of water and was about to get up to take his dirty dishes to the sink; but Hermione saw this and beat him to it. She went and pushed him down as she took his plate and scolded him.

"You heard your mother Ron, no moving." Ron frowned while Hermione walked over to the sink. But Ron knew that Hermione was only looking out for him, much to his dismay. He felt that _**he **_was the one who was supposed to be watching out for Hermione, not the other way around. Begrudgingly, Ron nodded and lay back down on the couch. When she came back, she gave him a glass of water. "Here you need to stay hydrated." Ron nodded in thanks as he started to drink the liquid in one gulp.

At night time, Adam told Ron that he would be doing the Red Archer duty until Ron was fully healed and could control himself, but since he was used to being up this late, he just stood there in the dark listening to the ticking of the Weasley clock. Finally, after a few minutes, he got up in a sitting position and looked at his bandaged wound, and afraid of being unable to control himself around his family and friends; he knew he would never forgive himself if something happened to them because of him.

The next morning, people in the Burrow were preparing to pack for Hogwarts but Ron couldn't pack so Molly packed for him, for which he was grateful. After everything was done, Arthur helped Ron into the car as everyone else piled into the car. "Ron how you feeling this morning?" Ginny asked her older brother who smiled and replied,

"I'll be fine."

Getting to the train, all Ron wanted to do was rest. Sitting in the compartment with Hermione and Harry, he wound up doing just that, causing Hermione to worry a bit. But she knew that his injury was severe and that rest was the best thing for him at this point. So watching her hero sleep, she read her book as Harry stared out the window. A few hours had passed and they realized they were approaching Hogwarts. Seeing their destination, Harry gently shook his best friend awake. "Mate, we're here." Ron opened his blue eyes and stretched upwards then hissed in pain. "You okay?" Ron nodded as he got up with help from Harry and Hermione. They then helped him out of the train and headed for the Great Hall where the new Hogwarts students would be entering. Harry was wolfing down his food (when normally it would be Ron) while Ron slowly ate his food, not feeling very well, slyly clutching his wound under the table when Dumbledore came up on stage for a special announcement. Hermione feeling worried saw this, but decided best to leave it alone, allowing Ron some space. She smiled at Ron as the two of them concentrated on Dumbledore's voice.

"Now this is a special year for Hogwarts because here in Hogwarts, the Triwizard Tournament will be conducted." All the students murmured and whispered excitedly. "Now we have two schools joining us...give a warm welcome to the school of Beauxbatons," The large Great Hall opened as dozens and dozens of beautiful French girls came rushing inside, making all the boys gawk at them while the Hogwarts girls rolled their eyes. Harry looked very happy seeing lots of girls running, making Hermione glare at the girls. She turned to Ron who was just looking at his food, increasing her worry. "Next the Dumstrage Institute." In marched a group of boys looking strong and focused, which caused all of the students to gasp, as a famous Quidditch player came in with the headmaster.

"It's Viktor Krum." Ron looked at the famous athlete then back at his food as he sighed while Hermione was worried about his behaviour.

"Now one student from each school will compete to win the cup." Dumbledore then showed everyone a beautiful silvery icy trophy that made them gasp in excitement. "However, only students who are seventeen…" This announcement caused uproar. "SILENCE!" Dumbledore shouted and everyone did. "As I was saying, this will only be for students age seventeen and older because the tasks are difficult and could even possibly kill you; and before anyone asks, no, the Red Archer is not competing, so if anyone puts his name in the fire, you will be severely punished." Hermione looked at Ron who gave her a smile then started eating slowly again.

That night, Ron was sitting on one of the comfy couches in Gryffindor Common Room and stared out the window at the beautiful landscapes that surrounded Hogwarts. "Ron?" someone whispered making him turn around and saw Hermione wearing her pyjamas. "What are you doing up?" She asked as she took a seat on the couch across from Ron who just shrugged then hissed in pain and clutched his wound again. "Do you want me to take you to the Hospital Wing?" Hermione asked worried.

"No I'm okay, no worries." Hermione sighed and looked at where his hand was on his wound; she felt responsible for her best friend's wound and pain. Ron saw the guilt in her eyes, making him sigh. "It's not your fault- I don't blame you and can never hate you…don't worry about it." Hermione nodded as Ron looked at his watch and saw it was getting late. "We need to get some sleep…I'll see you tomorrow." He painfully got up and started walking slowly up the stairs. Hermione stayed a bit longer, still feeling guilty over her hero's injury that she knew she caused. Deciding that she wouldn't be able to sleep, Hermione took out a book to read, but clearly couldn't concentrate as her thoughts were solely on Ron.


	5. Chapter 5

Ron sighed as he crossed his arms and put his head down looking bored in front of the classroom. He was starting to regret taking advance mathematics. It was not that he was bad at it, but it was boring for him as it didn't challenge him enough. The other students (except Hermione) thought he dropped it because it was too hard, but it turned out that he was the second person to get the highest score on their last exam with Hermione of course, being the top student. The truth was that Ron could easily get 100% but he didn't want to show that he was a math whiz so he purposely got a few answers wrong. "Mr Weasley, what is Y?" McGonagall asked Ron who snapped out of his daze then quickly worked out the answer.

"Y equals 0.25" McGonagall smiled and nodded while all of the students minus Hermione had their mouths gaped open in shock as Hermione smiled proudly at her friend. Hermione noticed that he was a genius at math last year because she knew that the Red Archer needed to be very accurate to hit his targets. Fortunately though, the Red Archer didn't kill anyone and really the worst he did was to break some bones and cause a few bruises. After the lesson was finished, Ron and Hermione walked out of the classroom together to their next lesson, Defence Against the Dark Arts. While they were moving to their next class, Ron clutched his wound with his right hand which caused Hermione worry.

"Are you alright Ron?" Hermione asked the red haired boy who nodded while grimacing in pain. "Do you want me to take you to the hospital wing?" She added making Ron grit his teeth and shake his head. "But are you su-" she was interrupted by Ron who shouted at her.

"I'M FINE!" Hermione took a step back and saw the anger in Ron's eyes; it took a couple of seconds for Ron to realise he was being mean as his blue eyes turned to shame and then to guilt. "Sorry Hermione, I don't know what came over me." Hermione looked at Ron then remembered about the side effects of his wound.

"It's okay; remember what Adam said…it's the dark magic…you just can't control it yet." Ron nodded but apologized again before they entered the classroom. As they entered, they saw their teacher was none other than the ex- Auror, Alastor Moody. Moody was an interesting character, really; he had a short fuse and a wooden leg and magical eye that Ron knew could see anything. In short, the new teacher terrified the class.

"Good morning class: Alastor Moody, ex- Auror and your teacher for Defence Against the Dark Arts. Now on with the lesson…who can tell me the three Unforgivable Curses that will earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban…anyone?" Nobody dared to put their hand up for fear of their teacher; so the teacher seeing the lack of participation, limped over to Ron and Harry's desk to get some answers. "Weasley!" Ron stood up. "Give me a curse!" He demanded of Ron who gulped then stuttered,

"There's one c- curse that my dad told me about: The Imperius Curse." The teacher smiled, pulled out his wand, and took out a spider in a jar to place in front of Ron who gritted his teeth and swallowed his fear. Moody pointed his wand at the spider and muttered a spell.

"Imperio" The spider started to twitch while the professor made the spider fly from student to student all the while causing a commotion in the classroom. "Give me another curse!" He ordered them. He heard someone meekly call out,

"Crucio." Moody's smile got bigger and a little scary as he walked over to Neville with the spider in his hand. He then placed the spider in front of Neville and pointed his wand at the eight legged creature and shouted,

"Crucio!" The spider started to twitch madly in pain in front of Neville who looked pale. Hermione had had enough and stood up and yelled,

"Stop it, can't you see its bothering him!" Everyone looked at Hermione as Professor Moody stopped and carried the spider over to Hermione's desk and placed it in front of her.

"Can you tell me the final curse, Miss Granger?" Hermione shook her head as Ron saw her getting upset which in turn made him angry. "Well...Miss Granger what is the FINAL curse? Aren't you supposed to be the brightest witch of your generation?" But Hermione just kept quiet. Ron then saw that Moody was about to make another comment and furiously stood up.

"It's the Killing Curse, Avada Kadavra!" Ron said angrily. "Leave her ALONE!" He shouted which made everyone in the class move back in fear while leaving his professor speechless for a moment. Moody then stood in front of Ron and pointed the wand at him, causing all of the students to gasp in shock. Moody quickly pointed the wand at the spider, grinning.

"AVADA KADAVRA!" A bright green light hit the spider causing instant death. Upon seeing this, and not believing what they were seeing, they heard their nutty professor say: "Class dismissed." Everyone ran out of the room quickly and started walking towards the Great Hall for lunch, muttering things about dropping that class if that barmy man was going to be teaching. Ron agreed yet was also in awe of the new professor. But then he remembered the way that Moody treated Hermione and quickly pushed his admirable thoughts about their professor aside and ran to catch up with Harry and Hermione.

"Are you alright Ron?" Harry asked his best friend who nodded and replied,

"Don't know what came over me in there." Harry nodded and then looked to his right and saw Cho Chang which totally distracted him; he stared at her for a few seconds and before he knew it, he ran into a stone pillar and landed on his backside as his classmates laughed. Chuckling as well, Ron went to help Harry.

"Okay there Harry?" He grinned at Harry who nodded and straightened up his glasses as he got up and dusted off his trousers. "Watch where you're going mate or was it the view of a girl that you have a crush on that caused you to crash?" Ron playfully nudged Harry who blushed scarlet as they entered the Great Hall to get something to eat.

As they were busily eating, trying to forget about their dodgy and barmy DADA teacher, the trio heard Dumbledore speaking.

"We welcome the Tri-Wizard Tournament to our school this year. Please do not enter this tournament lightly for even strong and talented Wizarding students have been known to get hurt. With that said, for people who are aged 17 and over, you may put your names on a piece of parchment and into this goblet. If you are not over 17, beware." He waved his wand and a golden goblet with a blue fire burning appeared. He then waved his wand again in a circular motion and a white circle surrounded the goblet. "People who are under the age limit will not be allowed near the fire… remember, beware."

Later that evening, all of the students who were of age quickly wrote their names on parchments and put them into the goblet of fire while some of the younger students looked at them with envy.

As students were placing their names to see if they could win power and glory, the room suddenly became deathly quiet as Ron and others turned to see Viktor Krum proudly walking up to the goblet; Krum glared at Ron, which aroused his curiosity, as he put his name into the fire.

It was finally the day to announce the champions for the Tri-wizard Tournament. Everyone gathered in the Great Hall where Dumbledore was ready to pull names out of the fire. All of the students were on the edge of their seats to know who would be competing deadly tasks. They then heard Dumbledore's booming voice announce the first name. "The first champion is…Viktor Krum!" Everyone clapped for the famous Quidditch player as he marched towards Dumbledore and shook his hand firmly. Dumbledore pointed to a room and directed him to the champions' room. Viktor moved to the room as the Headmaster pulled out the next name. "Next… Fleur Delacour!" All of the boys rose up to their feet and clapped loudly for the beautiful French girl, but Ron just sat as his wound still hurt him a little. He winced in pain as he listened to the last name called. "And our final champion is..." There were a few moments of silence. "...Cedric Diggory!" Everyone in the Hufflepuff House stood up proudly as they cheered for their champion. "Well, those are our champions-" But just as Dumbledore was getting ready to continue, he saw another name fly out of the fire and into his hand. "Harry Potter?" All of the Hogwarts students looked strangely over to the Gryffindor table at Harry. "HARRY POTTER!" Dumbledore shouted while Harry slowly walked up to Dumbledore, confused, and led him to the other rooms.

Ron laid on one of the couches in the Gryffindor Common Room while doing his math homework effortlessly while Hermione, who had completed all of her homework, sat on the floor and was reading Hogwarts a History for the millionth time. After Ron was finished, he put his finished homework on the table and closed his eyes for a few minutes, but really had fallen asleep for the past two hours. He woke up to the sound of someone dropping something on the table. Ron opened his eyes and saw Harry who looked as if he had seen a ghost. "Everything alright Harry?" Ron asked as he rubbed his eyes to see it was only the three of them in the Common Room. Harry just frowned towards Ron and bitterly responded.

"Yeah everything is FINE Ron." Harry said sarcastically to Ron who frowned as he got into a sitting position and glared at him.

"I was just asking mate...no need to get angry." Harry frowned again at Ron and scoffed before stomping up to the tall redhead so they were face to face.

"AT LEAST YOU'RE NOT THE ONE EVERYONE'S CALLING A CHEATER AND A LIAR!" Harry shouted making Ron frown even more. Ron, not taking any of Harry's anger, stood up forgetting about his wound and replied angrily,

"A LIAR? Harry I have to keep lying to my family about _**my**_ secret! Do you think that I like lying to my family? Do you? Don't you think that I worry that I might not come back from my work each time? So don't you dare stand there and tell me anything about hating being called a liar!" Harry and Ron kept glaring at each other while Hermione tried to break it up.

"Guys stop fighting!" She shouted at the two who ignored her.

"Why did you want to be one anyway, huh? If you don't like lying or risking your life, why be a hero?" Harry scathingly asked Ron who looked down as he remembered a painful memory. "WELL?!" Ron took a breather and replied slowly.

"I watched Adam's wife… die in front of me…that made me decide that I wanted to protect people." Harry just stood there quietly and in disbelief to Ron's revelation and watched Ron walk up the stairs to the dorm, head hanging.

Although Ron had told Harry his sad reason for becoming a hero, Ron and Harry still weren't talking to each other and sat far away from each other with Hermione feeling torn as to whose side she should take. Harry was after all like the brother she never had but Ron was someone she had begun developing deep feelings. She honestly didn't know what to do. As she was sitting there contemplating things, she saw that Ron had finished his breakfast and had decided to go outside to get some fresh air. So Hermione remained next to Harry at breakfast, but she did not speak a word.

Down by the Black Lake, Ron stared into it. He was taken out of his daze as he heard squeals of delight; he turned and saw Viktor Krum with a group of fan girls following him as he exercised. "I really want to go for a swim." Ron commented to himself. "But I don't know what the hell lives in there." Ron shuddered at the thought as he got up but then heard an ear piercing shriek which made him look towards the source of the sound. Looking up, he spotted Adam's black eagle fly into the Forbidden Forest, giving Ron the cue he needed to go and find Adam.

Ron knew he was nearing Adam's location; as he kept walking, he finally saw Adam with his forehead against the tree bark with eyes closed and tears falling down, making Ron sigh as he walked slowly towards Adam. Ron knew that it was the anniversary of his wife's death so he placed one of his comforting hands on his mentor's strong shoulder, causing his eyes to open and gave Ron a crushing hug. After a few seconds, Adam let go of Ron and wiped his tears away with his sleeve.

"Ron…sorry… I didn't mean to break down like that." Ron shook his head and patted his back.

"It's okay, mate. I understand...why did you summon me?" Ron asked as he took a seat on the leaf covered ground with Adam.

"I have something for you." He pulled out a box shaped present then handed it to Ron who looked confused. He took the present from his hand and was about to open it but Adam stopped him. "No, you mustn't open it; only open it when you find yourself in the dark." Ron raised one of his eyebrows up in confusion but then smiled.

"You just love talking in riddles, don't you?" Adam nodded then looked at his silver wedding ring on his ring finger. "You know, I'm pretty sure she's watching you from above." Ron said as Adam smiled and then looked at his watch. Deciding it was time to change subjects, Adam spoke.

"Now I've told Dumbledore your problem, so if you like, I will train you to control yourself- what do you say?" Ron thought for a moment then nodded. "Alright, close your eyes." Ron did as instructed and after a few seconds Adam spoke. "Open your eyes." When his blue eyes looked around his environment, he saw it was just white making Ron smile- this was how Adam trained Ron; it was like another world where thoughts and imagination would turn real. As they were surrounded by this world, Adam ventured into trying to teach his young pupil how to control his anger.

The Tri-wizard Tournament was in full swing as the champions completed their first dangerous task-getting the golden egg from a rather protective dragon. Each champion, including Harry, had succeeded. In fact, when Harry had retrieved the egg, everyone was cheering while Ron stood back smiling that he was safe. After getting the egg, Harry opened it as the egg emitted an ear piercing scream forcing everyone to cover their ears while he closed the egg. When Ron saw this, he went upstairs to get ready for bed but Hermione quickly ran over to him and grabbed his hand preventing him from going anywhere. "Ron wait...aren't you going to try and talk to Harry?" Ron looked at Harry who was too busy talking to his adoring fans. Ron shook his head at Hermione and said,

"Nah…can't take him away from his fans...good night Hermione." She sighed as she let Ron go to head upstairs. When Ron reached his room, he noticed that there was nobody there in the dorm (which made him smile) so he got on the floor and started to do push ups. After he had done a hundred and his arms were aching and sore, he tried to catch his breath. As he was catching his breath, he felt someone clamp a hand on his shoulder. With quick reflexes, Ron grabbed the hand from his shoulder and pushed the stranger against the wall firmly; he then gasped when he immediately realized it was Harry. "Sorry mate…" he said letting Harry go quickly. Harry pushing it aside replied back,

"I'm sorry I snapped at you...I was stressed and angry." Ron smiled and held out his hand out to Harry who shook it and then the two shared a manly hug. "It's late…we should get to bed." Ron agreed as they lay on their beds. "Ron...I also…wanted to say that I am sorry about Adam." Ron just shook his head.

"It's okay; he's still hurting but we're helping him get through his loss….but thanks for that mate." Ron then turned off the light as both he and Harry fell asleep, smiling that they were best mates once again.

The next day, Harry and Ron woke up early for the first time ever; they headed for breakfast discussing what the next challenge might be when Hermione walked through the Great Hall door, smiling at her friends. "So glad you two are friends again." Hermione commented making her two best friends smile and playfully roll their eyes as they continued to eat breakfast. As they were eating, they then heard Dumbledore make another one of his announcements. They weren't paying much attention but did catch the tail end of his announcement. "Now at Christmas Eve...Hogwarts will be hosting the Yule Ball; be sure to wear your best dress robes!" The trio looked at each other in confusion wondering what "ball" their Headmaster was referring; but that day, the trio would soon understand the Headmaster's words.

When it was Transfigurations class, instead of teaching (much to everyone's surprise), McGonagall made the boys and girls move to other ends of the room, leaving open a large space in the middle of the class room. "Now the Yule Ball is a dance…" All of the boys groaned while the girls whispered excitedly. "Inside every boy will be lordly lions ready to prance and inside every girl is a swan ready to burst! Dancing is an art and is meant to express your feelings through movements…" Seamus then whispered into Ron's ear,

"Yeah boys express their feelings by fighting." Ron nodded and they did a knuckle touch.

"True that...she doesn't expect us to prance on the dance floor does she?" The boys shrugged and they started to laugh but the laughter didn't last long for Ron as his injury pained him a little. "Ow" Ron hissed as McGonagall walked over to the boys.

"Now then, I need a partner… not Mr Weasley as I see that he is still injured." All of the boys looked down at their shoes, avoiding McGonagall's gaze. "Ah, Mr Finnigan thank you for volunteering." All of the boys laughed as Seamus unhappily got up as McGonagall took his hand. "Put your left hand on my waist." Seamus did as he was told which caused one of the boys to do a wolf whistle, leading all of the other boys in laughter. Seamus just glared at the boys as McGonagall started to make Seamus move and dance. Paying no attention to the boys, McGonagall then instructed the girls to get up. "Girls, on your feet!" All of the girls marched forward while the boys were glued to their seats. "Come on boys." Ron looked over to Neville who he could see was battling with himself to get up or not but then he whispered in his ear,

"I'll get up if you will mate." Neville looked at Ron to see if he was joking but Neville could see he was telling the truth before he nodded. "On three! One…two…three!" Neville and Ron both got up at the same time, with Ron grabbing Harry's arm and bringing him up as well, much to Harry's dismay.

"RON!" Harry tried to sit back down but Ron kept him where he stood. Ron saw that Harry was a bit timid so he took it upon himself to get Harry some attention.

"Alright girls! Who wants to dance with a champion?" Ron asked the girls who squealed in happiness as he pushed Harry forward towards the girls who were begging him to dance. Then Ron whispered in Neville's ear, "If you want to impress the girls, dance with Ginny." Ron winked at Ginny, who mouthed,

"You owe me one." Ron nodded as she walked over to Neville. "Want to dance?" He nodded and they started dancing. Ron, feeling happy for Neville, saw that there was one girl remaining in her seat: Hermione. She was looking sadly at the floor while Ron slowly walked over to her.

"Hey, why the long face?" Ron asked Hermione as he looked deeply into her brown eyes that were filled with sadness.

"Nobody wants to dance with me." She muttered making Ron shake his head and grab her hands and whispered in her ear,

"Because the boys are too afraid to make fools of themselves...w-want t-to umm...dance with me?" Ron stuttered as he held out his hand for her to take; Hermione was reddening a little as she took his large hand while he placed his left hand on her waist and started to copy McGonagall's moves. After a few seconds, Hermione accidentally stepped on Ron's foot.

"Sorry" She said quickly making Ron laugh softly as he twirled Hermione around; suddenly though, Ron's face grimaced in pain from his wound and Hermione began to worry. "RON! You need to sit down," she whispered but Ron twirled her again and tried to smile.

"Don't worry about me...hold on…" Ron warned her, making her brows furrow in confusion as Ron quickly grabbed her hips and raised her up in the air and placed her on the floor again. As he placed her down, she was a blush pink and told Ron they needed to stop dancing so he could rest. Ron, figuring it would be best to listen to Hermione, stopped dancing and heard Hermione mention lunch. "Let's get some lunch then Ron; I know you must be famished." Ron smiled at this and the two of them went to grab a very grumpy and annoyed Harry. Seeing Harry's reaction, all Ron could do was smirk as Hermione rolled her eyes.

That night, Hermione and Ron were summoned to Professor McGonagall's office as well as other students. When they arrived, they saw that they were being joined by Cho Chang and a young French girl that neither recognized. "Ah, glad you two can join us...now the next task will involve you four to be kidnapped and to be saved by the champions. The students gaped at their teacher as McGonagall continued. Miss Chang... you are to be saved by Mr Diggory." The Asian girl nodded happily. "Gabrielle, since you are the sister of Miss Delacour, she will be the one to save you." The French girl nodded. "Miss Granger, you are to be saved by Mr Krum." Ron clenched his fists until they turned white while Hermione felt confused as she looked over to Ron. "Finally, Mr Weasley, you will be saved by Mr Potter." Ron, who looked distracted, had his attention refocused when he heard a cough followed by a very loud "MR WEASLEY!"

"Huh? I'm sorry Professor but Mr Peters has advised me to rest." McGonagall nodded and then thought for a moment. "Very well, I will ask your sister to replace you in this task." Ron not liking this idea very much questioned his teacher. "But they won't be in danger will they? Please professor...if something happens, you know that I will have no choice but to jump in." McGonagall nodded, knowing Ron's secret identity as the Red Archer. "What exactly is the challenge then?" Ron asked the professor who explained further.

"The victims will be under the water for the champions to rescue." Ron looked at Hermione who shook in fear. "That will be all." Ron and Hermione were walking back to their common room quietly, as Ron knew that she was still visibly shaken by the news of the next task for the tournament.

"Hermione you don't have to do it...if you don't want to, I mean." Hermione shook her head and whispered,

"I can't go to the teachers and say I can't do it because of my...you know." Ron sighed and then replied,

"Okay... but you'll be asleep for an hour or two so you won't realize you are under the water; but if you start waking up and you're panicking, just squeeze the necklace as hard as you can and it will tell me if you need help. If you do, I promise to swim down to get you as fast as I can...I promise." Hermione nodded then unexpectedly hugged him as he too couldn't help but hug her back, taking in her scent.

"Thank you" she whispered.

It was an hour before the next task and Hermione was breathing heavily. She was on the boat with the other "victims" along with Ron, who making sure she and his sister were down safely. Ginny, Cho and Gabrielle were taken down to the deepest part of the lake while Hermione was having a small panic attack. "Hermione I promise, you will be fine, and you'll be asleep." Ron showed her a vial that would make her sleep for a long time; Hermione nodding took the vial and drank it, becoming suddenly sleepy. "I'll always protect you." Ron whispered as she slept and was taken into the water.

All the champions were already down in the water with Ron chewing his fingernails in agitation and worry; after an hour had passed only Cedric had resurfaced with Cho. McGonagall then whispered something into Ron's ear and he nodded and made his way towards a secret location to change into his Red Archer outfit not caring about Adam's warning. He knew that his sister and the girl he had fallen madly in love with were still underwater and he was determined to rescue both, injury be damned.

After Ron was fully suited, he went to the farthest part of the lake and pulled out a breather that Adam made for the Red Archer to allow him to breathe under the water. When Ron was finished preparing, he jumped into the icy cold water and started swimming to the bottom; when he got there he saw Harry freeing Ginny and Gabrielle being saved by Fleur which made Ron wonder: where was Viktor Krum? Pushing that thought aside, he quickly swam over towards Hermione who would wake up soon and probably start to panic. He pulled out another breather and started placing it around Hermione's mouth as her eyes fully opened and started to panic like he anticipated, but Ron hugged her close calming her. Hermione could tell he was telling her that everything would be alright, so Hermione trusting Ron hugged him tightly as he swam them both up to the surface. When they got there, the teachers helped them out of the water while Madame Promfrey wrapped Hermione in a warm blanket. Ron took off her breather and then his saying, "You're going to be alright." Ron got up and was about to leave when suddenly there was a short dagger that landed near the Red Archer's feet with a note wrapped around it. He picked it up and read the letter silently cursing the contents.

"_You and your friends are going down soon." _After reading it, the note burst suddenly into flames with the dagger disappearing as well.

"Hermy-ninny" Viktor pushed passed the students to get to Hermione. "I am so very sorry...but I was attacked by lots of Merpeople." Hermione shook her head.

"No, it's okay Viktor...the Red Archer saved me." Viktor looked at Hermione's rescuer, who smirked as he bowed before he was gone. A few seconds later, Ron quickly came back with a smile towards Hermione who mouthed thank you to him before winking at her as he walked over to Harry.

It was the Yule ball and Ron was in his room wearing a dark blue dress robes that he bought with his earnings from being the Red Archer. The dress robes matched his eyes perfectly as Ron adjusted his tie before looking at himself in the mirror and sighing as Harry came into their dorm wearing his emerald dress robes.

"How do I look?" Harry asked Ron who smiled and gave him a thumbs up. "We better go." Ron nodded and they slowly started making their way to the Great Hall. "I don't get why you didn't go with Padma…it's better than no one after all." Harry was curious as to why his best friend didn't accept to go with anyone.

"I wouldn't have fun nor would she have fun with me…not sure why I'm even going." Harry sighed and they began walking to the Great Hall. When they arrived, all they saw were the champions gathering in the corridor but no sign of Hermione. "Where's Hermione?" Ron asked Harry who shrugged as his partner Pavarti arrived. Instead of looking at Harry, she gasped as she looked towards the staircase. The two boys looked where she was looking and both of their mouths gaped open in surprise as a beautiful girl descended down the stairs. They noticed that her hair was like little waves of chocolate and her dress looked like it was floating as she moved. The boys couldn't believe that the gorgeous girl was in fact, their best mate, Hermione Granger.

They then saw Viktor Krum appear and walk over towards her and take her hand as they lined up. Ron seeing this was seething, wanting to knock the head off the ruddy pumpkin head.

Fifteen minutes of the Yule Ball was hell for Ron who just watched Hermione from the corner of his eye. He looked down sadly as his eyes wondered to the nearest window and saw Adam's black eagle staring at him. Ron quickly got up and was making his way to the exit when Hermione spotted him leaving and wanting to know why he was leaving the ball so early. Not wanting to be rude, Hermione looked at Viktor and said, "I'll be right back Viktor." He nodded and walked over to his friends while Hermione followed Ron outside.

Sitting on a log by the lake, Ron was wearing his Red Archer costume and clutching his injured side. "Ron?" The hero turned and just looked at Hermione as she walked over to him. "What are you doing in that costume?" She asked as Ron just got up and started walking through the forest with Hermione following after him. "RON!" She shouted getting angry at him. "Speak to me...what have I done?" She asked Ron who stopped and put his head against the tree then whispered,

"You wouldn't care." Hermione frowned as she stepped towards him and grabbed the collar of his hoodie and shouted,

"Of course I would care! Why are you acting like this?" Ron didn't speak but just stood there. "Fine, don't answer me." She let him go and started walking away when suddenly an arrow was shot in her direction causing her to stop.

"I can't do this anymore, Hermione." Ron whispered as he walked over and pulled his arrow out of the tree to place back in his quiver. "I can't be the Red Archer." Hermione was about to speak but he stopped her. "No let me speak, please." She kept her mouth closed. "I can never measure up to the original Red Archer…he's great…but me...I'm not… also I wanted to leave the Yule Ball because I couldn't stand to watch anymore." Ron stopped talking as Hermione stepped forward and made him look at her.

"Ron you are a brilliant Red Archer; you have given up so much to save people. Besides, Adam told me that you were a better Red Archer than he ever was." Ron sighed and looked at his bow in his hands. Quickly changing subjects, Hermione went on. "What couldn't you watch anymore at the Ball? Was it Harry's bad dancing?" She joked making Ron laugh a little and then shook his head. "Then what?" Ron took a deep breath and said sadly,

"I don't really want to talk about it, but I will in the future; please don't press further into this." Hermione sighed and nodded making Ron nod in thanks. He looked at his watch and saw it was getting late. "Shouldn't you get back to the Yule Ball? Viktor might get curious as to where you went." Hermione sighed and shook her head.

"I'm pretty sure that he understands that one of my best friends needs me." Ron pulled a funny face and shook his head. "Besides, Viktor stepped on my feet more than a thousand times in one song." The hero tried not laughing at her comment. "But he was a gentleman unlike some people I know," she playfully teased Ron who frowned and spoke in a mock hurt tone.

"Hey! I can be a gentleman, I just choose not to." Hermione playfully nodded and rolled her eyes making Ron pout and eliciting a giggle from Hermione. She then crossed her arms across her chest then raised her eyebrows at him, not believing him. "Want me to prove it?" Hermione nodded as Ron had to think for a moment to prove his chivalry. He looked at the grass and saw a beautiful tiny blue flower. He carefully plucked it from the earth and looked at Hermione as he put the flower in her hair. Hermione was pink from blushing as Ron bowed. "Would this lovely maiden like to dance?" Ron asked making Hermione turn even pinker. Hermione then did a curtsey before she took Ron's hands and they started to slow dance across the grassy land. "Do you trust me?" The Red Archer asked Hermione who nodded. "Then hold on." Hermione was confused as Ron lifted Hermione and spun them around before placing her back on the ground. Ron and Hermione looked deeply into each other's eyes and started to lean in closer when suddenly an eagle shriek caused them to break apart. "You need to get back...I need to see Adam." The Red Archer sighed as Hermione nodded sadly and started making her way back to the ball. She turned to see Ron one more time, but saw that he had disappeared. Ron, concealed in the trees looked at Hermione. Hermione sensing Ron's presence looked in the direction that Ron was hiding; sighing, they both shook their heads and together their minds screamed, "SO CLOSE". With that last thought, both left in opposite directions.


	6. Chapter 6

GOF part 3

"HERMIONE...HERMIONE!" All of the Gryffindor girls charged up to Hermione to get the scoop. "Okay, how did this happen?" Lavender asked Hermione who sat down eating her breakfast with Ron and Harry. The trio looked at the newspaper and saw on the front page two large pictures of Viktor Krum and the Red Archer. The first picture was of Viktor Krum and Hermione dancing with each other while the other was Hermione and the Red Archer dancing as well. The headlines read, _"DANCING WITH KRUM OR ARCHER?"_ She quickly snatched the paper from Lavender's hands and read it out loud.

"Hermione Granger was going to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum but she left the ball to go see the hero, Red Archer where we saw the two dancing together lovingly. Sources say they were inches away from kissing...well Miss Granger haven't you been busy? But who will she choose? Krum, the Bulgarian bonbon or the Red hot Archer? By Rita Skeeter"Ron blush a little when Harry playfully nudged Ron, knowing his crush on Hermione.

"HERMIONE...well did you kiss him?" Lavender asked as the other girls leaned into hear what she had to say while Hermione was blushing and Ron kept his head down. "Well...Hermione?" She shook her head making all the girls moan and asked her again, "Who was he? Did you unmask him?" Hermione kept her promise to Ron and then smirked before getting up and leaving, making the girls chase her to the library to badger her further about her moment with the famous hero. Finally, when they were gone, Harry leaned over to Ron and whispered in his ear,

"You almost kissed Hermione?!" Ron blush some more and then whispered back,

"Harry I don't...I mean it was just...umm…" Ron couldn't finish his sentence making Harry silently laugh before holding his hands up in mock defence and replied quietly,

"I won't say anything to your family...I promise." Ron smiled a bit and started to eat again.

Ron was in Dumbledore's office with the Headmaster and Adam, who was holding the newspaper in his hands, and showed it angrily to his student. "RON! I TOLD YOU NOT TO WEAR THE COSTUME!" Ron stayed mute while he let his mentor get all his anger out. "And now you put Hermione in more danger! Are you an idiot?!" He didn't say anything. "WELL?!" Ron sighed and muttered,

"It was just the spur of the moment...I didn't think anyone was there...honestly." Adam sighed as Dumbledore smiled at Ron. "I promise to be more careful...promise." Adam shook his head as he leaned against the window while Dumbledore got up and placed a hand on Ron's broad shoulder.

"Mr Weasley, I know that you didn't mean anything but be wary of Rita Skeeter…she may look harmless but she can be very sneaky." Ron nodded in agreement. "Now you won't be going to lessons today because your mentor and I will help you to work on controlling your anger, okay?" Ron agreed, waited, and closed his eyes as Adam began to do his spells.

When he opened his eyes, Ron saw that he was at the Burrow; he slowly made his way towards his home when he saw it suddenly light on fire. "Oh no" He started to sprint towards the burning home.

"RON HELP!" Someone shouted at the top floor so Ron kicked down his family's front door and started racing up the stairs. "RON! PLEASE HELP ME!" When he got to the top of the stairs by his room, he saw Hermione was being held hostage by a tall shadowy figure that had a knife held near her throat.

"NO...Let her go!" Ron commanded the shadowy figure who gave a dark chuckle as he moved the knife closer to Hermione, making the Red Archer grit his teeth as he dared not make a move as it could get his best friend hurt. Ron knew that this was not real but real or not, he wanted, no _**needed**_ to protect Hermione from any danger. "Please let her go." Ron begged.

"The Red Archer is begging to save this pathetic Muggle born girl?" His voice echoed as he came out the shadows, revealing a man with a thick brown beard and cold blue eyes; he had a scar running diagonally from his left temple to his chin going through his nose and the left side of his lips.

"Are you willing to do anything to protect her?" He asked the hero who looked at his shoes as he clenched his hands tightly while grinding his teeth together.

"Yes... just let her go… NOW!" Ron shouted which made the man laugh as he threw Hermione out the window. "NOO!" Ron jumped after Hermione but then noticed that the environment had changed and that they were falling off a cliff now. He finally reached her and hugged her tightly. "Hold on Hermione!" Ron reached for his utility belt then realised that it had vanished. "Bloody hell." Ron gazed down and saw they were going to hit cold water. "Hold on!" Ron warned her as he hugged her tighter as they dove into the cold waters.

When Ron opened his eyes, he saw he was in Dumbledore's office and was breathing heavily "I...I couldn't save her." He stuttered, making Adam shake his head and walk over to his student to whack Ron with hand. "Oww... what was that for?" Ron asked as he rubbed the spot that he hit.

"Ron… you did save her." Then Adam realised something. "Ron, I need blood sample from you." He searched his bag for an injection needle and pierced his skin and got some of his blood so he could perform some tests and figure out what to do with Ron. "Now go- it's a beautiful day that you should be spending with your friends." He then pushed Ron out the door and shutting it said, "Dumbledore, I need your help." The old headmaster nodded and replied,

"Anything my old friend." Ron just stood there in confusion then shook his head as he started making his way to the Common Room. When he got there, he saw that the Gryffindor girls were still interrogating Hermione who was concentrating on finishing her charms essay.

"Ron there you are...where did you go?" Harry asked Ron who sighed as they took a seat near the fireplace.

"Just needed to see someone, Harry." Harry nodded knowing that Ron hated people trying to pry into his life (especially into his secret) because it only angered him and Harry didn't want to fight with Ron again because he was his first and loyal friend that he made in the Wizarding World.

"Wizard's chess?" Harry asked Ron as he got out his own set and started laying it out while Ron just played with hands. "White or Black?" Harry asked as Ron pointed to the white. Five minutes later, Ron was now smiling from ear to toe as he had severely beaten Harry.

Meanwhile, Hermione who was trying to complete her work just gritted her teeth as the girls kept prying her for information about the handsome Red Archer. Finally, Hermione gave up and went upstairs but the girls only proceeded to follow her causing Harry and Ron start to quietly chuckle.

"Well, looks like Hermione will kill me." Ron sighed as Harry laughed and patted Ron's back. "You ready for the last task?" Harry just shook his head. "You'll be fine, mate...don't worry… Adam and I will help you; if You-Know-Who…you know shows up." Harry smiled and mouthed thank you to his best mate.

Finally, the last task arrived in the form of finding a trophy in a large and dangerous maze. Ron sneakily had put a tracker on Harry so he could keep an eye on him while Adam sat next to Ron, watching with the rest of his family and Hermione. "Ron take this." He secretly placed the item in his hand and saw it was a vial filled with light green colour. Ron nodded and put in his pocket, and focused his attention back on the tournament. After an hour had passed, none of the champions had located the trophy which made everyone worry. "Ron…time to go." Adam whispered as Ron nodded and they sneakily left the stands to get changed into their costumes. "Ron take the potion." He advised his student who nodded and took the sickly coloured liquid changing his hair colour to dark brown but leaving his eyes the same colour. "Sorry Ron...your eyes are still the same...sorry I was in a hurry." Ron shook his head, ignoring his mentor's apologies.

"Let's go!" Both guys whispered to the other. They used the tracker that Ron placed on Harry to target his location. "This isn't right… it says that Harry is at a cemetery in a small town far away. Ron showed his mentor the tracker, to which Adam gasped aloud,

"Oh no we need to go NOW!" Ron was feeling worried and nodded and held onto Adam as they disapparated to Harry's location. When they arrived, they saw Wormtail with a large cauldron and Cedric Diggory lying on the floor dead, while Harry was being held up by a statue; suddenly there was a large bang of flash and to Adam and Ron's shock saw that it was Voldemort. Adam and Ron looked at each other as Adam shouted, "NOW!" Ron nodded as both of them pulled out an arrow that contained a powerful spell that would knock anyone out and shot it but Voldemort saw it coming and created a force field to deflect the arrow.

"Aahh...welcome the Red Archers." The Dark Lord started to laugh evilly at the two heroes who got ready to shoot another bow. "Show your face…cowards." Ron and Adam gritted their teeth as Adam spoke in a deep voice so he couldn't be recognised.

"What's the point of being a hero if people know our identity?" Voldemort frowned as he pulled out his wand while the two secretly pulled out a small tube and pressed down for a while as Voldemort shouted to Wormtail,

"Aren't you going to help me you imbecile!" Wormtail muttered an apology before pulling out his wand and got ready to fight. "Three...two...one...NOW!" The two raised their wands and shouted simultaneously,

"AVADA KADAVRA!" Then a blast of green created a large smoke; when the smoke was cleared, they saw two metal shields covering the heroes.

"Nice try" The new Red Archer smirked making Voldemort glare at them.

"Get Harry and Cedric." His mentor telepathically said to his student. "I'll distract them and we'll leave." Ron nodded as he watched Adam pulled out a black pellet and throw it on the ground causing a smoke screen. Ron took this chance to grab Harry and Cedric before running back to Adam; as they were about to leave he saw that Wormtail had knocked out Adam by using Stupefy, leaving Ron and Harry alone.

"Well, well…it looks as if only the weak ones remain." Voldemort played with his wand before shooting a spell at Ron and Harry that caused them to feel like they have been tied to the ground. Voldemort, seeing that the two boys were no longer a threat, strutted confidently over to Ron. "Now, let's see who you really are…" He yanked Ron's dark red hood off revealing a boy no older than sixteen with brown hair and blue eyes. "Now, what's your name?!"

"Red Archer" Ron shouted confidently making Voldemort laugh as he hovered his hands over Ron's wound.

"Looks like you were stabbed by one of my followers." He pulled out his wand and muttered an incantation causing Ron to stand up on his own with no control of his movements.

"What's happening?" Ron asked as he couldn't control his body. Voldemort laughed as he made Ron press a button to his bow to turn it into a sword and slowly walked over to Harry. "NOO...STOP!" Ron begged as he made his way over to Harry and raised his sword. Ron was trying to resist but he couldn't; Ron closed his eyes to try and think.

"_Ron, promise me that you will do anything to save the people you love." _That voice echoed in his head making Ron open his eyes that was filled with determination and gritted his teeth and tried to stop Voldemort from controlling him further to do his dirty work.

"I AM NOT YOUR PUPPET!" Ron shouted as Voldemort made him raise Ron's sword and stab himself in the same wound; however, blood didn't come but rather a black liquid came out making Voldemort gasp as Ron pulled out his sword. Ron, seeing that he was in control of his body again said, "Looks, like no more dark magic, eh?" He got up as his wound started to magically stitch itself up.

"How is that possible?!" Wormtail gasped as he ran over to his master's side, who started becoming weak while Ron smiled as he helped Adam up.

"I took a potion." Adam took a step but Wormtail and Voldemort ran away before they were able to catch them. "Harry, you okay mate?" Ron asked Harry who nodded as Ron's hair started to turn back to his fiery red.

"C-Cedric is dead…" Harry stuttered as Adam walked over to Cedric's body and closed his eyes and whispered,

"Rest in peace, Cedric" Adam turned to Ron who propped up his hood before his hair turned fully red so he could keep his secret identity safe once more. "We need to get back guys." Adam lifted Cedric's body as Ron held Harry to Adam who transported them back to the start of the maze where everyone gasped when they saw Cedric. Adam placed him on the floor gently as his father ran over to his son and started to cry not wanting to believe what he was seeing while Harry was attacked by reporters asking him what happened.

"He's back! Voldemort…he's alive…!" was all that Harry said before walking towards the castle. Hearing this news, reporters turned to the Red Archers who refused to say anything.

"Any comment, Archers" One of the reporters asked the Red Archers who remained mute. "What happened?" Ron looked at Hermione who was too busy looking at the dead body.

"Let's just go" Adam said telepathically and Ron nodded. The two heroes had left in a flash, leaving the reporters miffed knowing that they had nothing to use in the newspaper for the next day.

A week had passed; everyone attended Cedric's funeral, all feeling sorrowful. One night Ron was walking around Hogwarts grounds when he spotted Hermione in a bathing suit looking fearfully at the lake. "What is she doing?" Ron thought as he walked towards her. "Hermione!" Ron shouted making Hermione scream and fall into the water. "Oh no" Ron jumped in the water after Hermione who started sinking; Ron held her up by her waist so she would stay afloat. "What were you doing?" Ron asked Hermione who started to panic. "Hermione stop" she hung on tightly as Ron helped her to shore. "What the hell are you doing?" Ron asked as he pushed his wet red hair back as he sat next to her.

"I tried to swim" She squeaked out while Ron sighed as he shook his head.

"I can see that but you haven't swum in a while and...You know I want to help you, that is, if you want me?" Ron asked Hermione who didn't look at Ron but nodded making Ron smile as he got in the water with arms held out front. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you." Ron reminded Hermione who took a deep breath while Ron had his strong arms wide open for her; she got in the water then started holding tightly onto Ron. "Okay ready?" she nodded.

After ten minutes, Hermione was finally swimming without any help making Ron smile as he watched Hermione swim. Ron sat on the bank pushing his hair back away from his eyes. When she was tired, she came out of the water and sat next to him. She then gave him a bone crushing hug, "Thank you Ron" he couldn't help to smile back and hug her as he whispered,

"You're welcome...any time." Ron and Hermione stared at each other deeply and started to lean closer and closer when Adam's eagle landed in front of them causing them to move away from each other. Both of them sighed knowing that they missed another moment to kiss each other. "I need to go; see you on the train tomorrow." Ron got up and started walking away.

"I swear I will fry that bird." Ron muttered to himself while Hermione sighed as she ran her fingers through her wet hair.

"I hope next year, it does happen." She prayed as she grabbed a towel and dried her hair.

Ron followed the eagle to the Shrieking Shack where he saw Dumbledore, Adam and Morgan. "Why do you need me?" Ron asked his mentors and Headmaster who looked at each other as Morgan spoke.

"Ron, we decided that your family, Harry and Hermione will be moved this summer for their safety. You will be staying at the Order's new headquarters, Sirius' family's home." Ron nodded then gasped at the name "Order."

"The Order of the Phoenix?" The three adults nodded. "Wow" was all Ron could say when Adam walked over to Ron.

"Please protect Cora; she will be staying with you as well." Adam pleaded to Ron who nodded as he smiled, remembering Adam's daughter, Cora. Cora, who was still traumatized by the sudden death of her mother, had unfortunately lost her ability to speak and only communicated now by sign language. After many futile tries to get Cora to speak, both Adam and Ron had given up hoping that someday she would snap out of it on her own.

"I'll protect her." Adam thanked Ron. "Any news?" Ron asked making the three sigh as Morgan explained,

"We can't find Voldemort; he's gone into hiding, as has his followers...the others are trying to track him down." Ron nodded and smiled to the other's he referred. There were many Red Archers and Black Arrows around all of England and each was designated to a specific area in the UK. They helped each other and they would help anyone in trouble. "Anyway you have fun Ron… go and be safe." Morgan pushed Ron out the door and shut it, leaving Ron very confused and annoyed.

Not thinking about his superior's actions, Ron headed back to his room to pack. As he was packing, he smiled to himself and realized that he would be under the same roof as Hermione, but then quickly frowned realizing that his brothers would be there as well. "Bloody hell…this is going to be a long summer." Ron muttered to himself.


	7. Chapter 7

_-FLASH, a short bright blinding light then followed by a crash sounded as the rain kept pouring heavily while his breath started getting shorter as he kept running as fast as he could, his legs were turning to jelly. 'No...I need to get there' his voice echoed in his head as he forced himself to keep moving. Finally he got there- a small cottage near a small forest; he opened the light blue front door and raced up the stairs to his room. "JENNA! JENNA!" He shouted as he searched his room and saw a pale woman with blond hair and brown eyes. He knelt down and checked her pulse then shook his head not wanting to believe. "Please don't leave me...don't leave us." He whispered when he heard a small voice whimpering. _

"_Daddy" He looked under the bed and saw a little girl with brown hair and brown eyes filled with fear and her cheeks wearing tear stains; she crawled out from under the bed and hugged her father tightly. "Mummy, w-was at-attacked!" She cried as new tears started to fall again when the door opened to reveal someone wearing a hood and breathing heavily. _

"_I'm sorry...the-they got a-away." The hooded figure handed him a metal sphere carved with a cross; he clenched his hand that contained the metal ball trying to crush it remained intact. _

"_I swear to get revenge."_ He opened his eyes and checked the window to see that it was raining and thundering. He sighed as he checked his watch and saw it was three in the morning when he felt something shift in his arms; he looked down and saw his six year old daughter sleeping peacefully with one hand clutching onto her handmade teddy bear that his wife made for her before she was born and the other holding onto his nightshirt. Adam looked once more at his daughter and put a protective arm around her before trying to find sleep again.

There was a knock on the door. Mrs Weasley excitedly ran over to it and opened it with a large smile. "Hello, please come in," the Grangers smiled as they entered Grimmauld Place. Molly led them to the living room where they saw Ron sleeping peacefully, causing Molly to click her tongue as she shook her head. "He sleeps in his room but sometimes we will see him on the couch as well in the mornings. To be honest, Arthur and I think he sleepwalks." Molly joked as the Grangers laughed with Hermione who smiled slyly knowing that Ron was really the Red Archer. "Ron, wake up!" Molly shook her son awake but he was still sleeping deeply as Harry, Fred and George came in wearing evil grins.

"Mum we can wake Ron up." Fred said innocently as George put something in Ron's ears. "Cover your ears ladies and gents." He warned the people. "Ready my dear brother?" George nodded as he muttered a spell. They then heard an ear piercing screech causing Ron to scream as he pulled the things out of his ears.

"AARRGGHH!" Ron covered his ears as his head echoed with the hurtful sound. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!" He asked angrily of his twin siblings who disapparated before Ron could get his hands on them; but Ron didn't bother as he was shaking his head trying to rid the ringing sound when he realized that Harry, the Grangers and his parents were all smiling at him. "Hi?" Ron gave them a small smile.

"Ron, take a shower; you smell like sweat and dirt." Ron looked down at himself and nodded as he went up to the bathroom to take a shower. Whilst in the shower, Ron closed his eyes as the lukewarm water hit him; he was thinking of many things but mostly focused on figuring out how to get Cora, Adam's little girl to speak. Ron was there when Jenna was killed by that evil man they called 'Crossbow', a bounty hunter that hunted the Red Archers and the Black Arrows. He could remember the cold blue eyes and the scar that ran diagonally from his left temple to his right chin. Ron felt responsible for Jenna's death as he had been visiting Jenna and Cora while waiting for Adam to continue his lessons. But while Adam was out buying groceries, Crossbow had attacked them, leaving Ron no other choice but to fight on his own. Ron had tried his best to protect Jenna, but unfortunately his lack of skill at the time just had not been good enough to save her. Ron has never forgotten that horrific day as he has been haunted a few times in his dreams. As a way to conquer his guilt, Ron made it a point to train every day, pushing his body to limits that he didn't even know existed. He, like Adam, wanted to get revenge on the killer. But Ron and Adam knew that revenge would not be immediate as they knew that Crossbow had gone into hiding after he had killed Jenna, and had kept a low profile ever since. As Ron was lost in his thoughts, he suddenly heard a knock on the bathroom door causing him to frown and shout,

"HEY IT'S OCCUPIED!" Ron shouted as someone shouted back from the other side of the door,

"RONALD HURRY UP...You've been in there for an hour!" Ginny shouted at her older brother who looked shock about the amount of time he had spent in the shower. "Now hurry up, mum says lunch is almost ready!" Hearing the word "lunch", Ron quickly finished taking his shower and ran up to his room that he and Harry shared.

Not realizing how hungry he was, Ron quickly tried buttoning his shirt when he heard a knock on the door.

"It's open." Ron thought it was Harry as he started, "Harry do you have my-" his eyes opened and was staring at brown eyes that were staring right back at him...well mostly his unbuttoned shirt actually. "H-hey H-He-Hermione" Ron spoke nervously as he turned to quickly button the rest of his shirt.

"Yo-your mum has lu-lunch w-waiting." Hermione stuttered as she started blushing red hot before she raced downstairs to help set up for lunch.

"Okay thanks", Ron called out to her fleeing form. Ron finished changing and went downstairs to the kitchen where all the girls were busy setting the table while Molly cooked. "Need help mum?" Ron asked his mum who shook her head.

"No Ronnie dear; go lay down…you still look tired." Ron thanked his mother and went and sat on the chair nearby the table and peered out the window; his eyes started to close when he suddenly felt someone poking him causing him to wake up. He looked up and saw a little girl with brown hair and brown eyes smiling at Ron who smiled in return.

"CORA" Ron lifted the little girl in his arms and hugged her tightly. "How are you?" The little girl made her tiny chubby index finger and thumb into a circle which meant okay in sign language. _'Still not talking' _he thought sadly. "Want to have some lunch?" Cora nodded as Ron carried her over to the table and sat her down. "I'll get you a glass of water." She nodded as he got up to get her water. He was walking back to Cora when he felt Hermione's warm breath behind him, whisper something into his ear. "Is she deaf?" Hermione asked innocently as Ron shook his head. He then explained to her the whole story about Cora's inability to talk due to being traumatized by the death of her mother. "Oh my goodness" Hermione gasped in shock "Poor Cora" Ron sighed in agreement as he walked over to Cora with the glass of water.

_It was night time and Adam was taking the Red Archer's shift for the rest of the week so Ron could rest and prepare for tomorrow's start of the fifth year. Right now, however, Ron was with Cora who didn't feel comfortable sleeping in a different environment; so Ron who didn't want to sleep in his room since he was used to sleeping in the living room, just had Cora stay with him on the couch. She lay on Ron's chest while hugging her teddy bear tightly and heard someone come into the living room. "Ron?" Someone whispered as the living room door opened revealing Hermione in her pyjamas. "Oh hello Cora" The little shy girl waved at Hermione who sat on an overstuffed armchair where Cora and Ron were sitting.

"Don't be shy Cora; Hermione doesn't bite…I promise." Ron told Cora who shyly nodded then signed something to Ron as Hermione was trying to interpret what Cora was saying. Hermione only knew some sign language (she had taught herself some words when she saw a deaf person signing one day while out with her mother shopping) while Ron was taught by Adam so he could communicate better with Cora. Regardless of not being able to speak, Adam's daughter was very shy especially around new people and was no different with Hermione. "Hermione? Cora said you have beautiful hair." Hermione looked at Cora who wore a confused expression as she smirked at Ron. "Oh really, did you really say that Cora?" Hermione sweetly asked Cora who looked at Ron and saw that his eyes were pleading for her to confirm a yes. After a few seconds, she nodded making Hermione smile. "Well thank you Cora; you are very pretty too." Hermione watched the small child blush at her comment and burrowed her head into Ron's chest to hide her red face as Ron cuddled the little girl in his arms.

"Alright it's getting late; Cora, try to get some sleep now." Cora nodded as she laid her head on Ron's chest and closed her eyes. After a few minutes, she finally had fallen asleep. "Thanks Ron." Hermione whispered so she didn't wake Cora. "You have wonderful eyes by the way." Ron's ears turned pink as he smiled at her.

"Thanks, but I prefer brown eyes." Hermione turned her head, feeling a bit confused as Ron continued his reasoning. "I don't know why, I guess brown eyes remind me of chocolate." Hermione started laughing while Ron started to blush harder and then gently shushed her. "Shhh...Cora's sleeping" Ron then looked at his watch and saw it was getting late. "Better get some sleep, yeah? We need to get up early to go to King's Cross." Hermione nodded as Ron carried Cora to the room that Hermione and Ginny were sharing. Hermione sat on the bed while she watched Ron tuck Cora into bed. "Good night" Ron whispered as he leaned in to kiss Cora's forehead before he made his way to the door way. "Night to you too, Hermione." She smiled at Ron as he closed the door behind him.

The next day Ron woke up early and went to the kitchen where he saw his mother cooking breakfast. "Good morning love" she said in a cheerful manner making Ron smile. "Want help mum?" Ron asked his mother who nodded as Ron helped with the bacon. Molly knew that her youngest liked to cook and bake, but also knew that he was very skilled too. But Molly understood not to make a big deal about her son's culinary skills as she was fully aware of her twin sons and their merciless teasing. As she watched her youngest son in action, she couldn't help to think about how lucky a certain brown eyed girl would be to have a skilled cook as her husband.

At King's Cross Station the others were already getting on board while Harry was saying goodbye to Sirius. On the train, Ron and Hermione were searching for an empty compartment; they finally had found one near the end of the train and placed their things inside. Ron put his bag on the overhead and then saw Hermione who was on her tiptoes trying to get her own bag next to his. He watched in amusement until he lifted Hermione by the waist so she could reach it. When Ron set Hermione back on her feet, their faces were inches from each other when Ron heard footsteps coming their way causing them to sit across from each other. Harry went inside and sat next to Hermione, who wore a pink face. Ron, ignoring Harry's look, laid back and placed his hands behind his head to use as a pillow. "Ron you tired?" Harry asked Ron who closed his eyes and then replied,

"Yeah, don't know why? I haven't been working for a week as Adam has been allowing me time to rest; he says that it's not healthy for someone my age to miss out on so much sleep." Harry and Hermione nodded and watched Ron's breathing become steady as he finally allowed sleep to claim him.

"Let him sleep, Harry" she whispered to Harry who silently agreed.

When they finally arrived at Hogwarts, Harry went to go see Dumbledore while Hermione woke up Ron. As she reached for him, Ron started mumbling something in his sleep, causing Hermione to focus her attention on his ramblings.

"C-crossbow...don't...please...not…her" Ron's brows furrowed as he started to mutter louder. "Please...don't...anything" Ron had cold sweat pouring down his face which made Hermione worry as she reached out to shake him awake; but just as she was preparing to wake him, she felt Ron grab her wrist as he woke up. Seeing her frightened look, Ron immediately released her hand and apologized, "Sorry...sorry...I'm so, so sorry Hermione…it's a reflex." Nodding her head at Ron, he smiled at her and got up, wondering if she had known what he was dreaming about or more precisely, what he was having a nightmare about. Shaking his head of those thoughts, he grabbed their bags and handed Hermione's hers before he quickly left.

"RON wait" Hermione chased after him. Ron was deep in thought.

'WHAT THE HELL? I almost hurt Hermione; I just can't get Crossbow out of my head'. Ron held his head as he felt a headache coming when he felt a small hand clamp down on his broad shoulder. "Hermione I'm sorry" Hermione shook her head and asked,

"It's fine Ron; by the way, who's Crossbow?" Ron sighed as he ran his hand through his fiery red hair then explained in a sad tone.

"Crossbow is a bounty hunter who hunts Red Archers… he's also the one who killed Cora's mother." Hermione stood there in disbelief as she nodded and walked away, tears leaking out of her eyes.

Meanwhile in the boy's dorm, as the boys were unpacking, Ron was doing his exercises to help clear his terrifying thoughts from his dream. AS he was doing his sit-ups, he saw Dean and Seamus walk over. "How many can you do Ron?" Dean asked Ron who did a few more before stopping.

"Hundred" he gasped as he finished his workout, trying to catch his breath. He then said, "Why?" Seamus and Dean just stared at each other in disbelief.

"Ooww..." he wheezed out. "How can you do a hundred when I can barely do one?" Seamus complained. "I mean…how do you do it Ron?" All of the boys, who were intently listening, leaned in to learn Ron's secret as he placed his hands up in mock defence.

"Come on guys, I've been doing it for a while." Upon hearing this, all of the boys charged at Ron and begged him to help them gain muscle.

"Please help us Ron, I mean you have a six pack and chicks dig fit guys." Dean pleaded as all the other boys nodded in agreement. "PLEASE" Ron sighed and nodded,

"Fine...fine...fine, my God." Ron shook his head at the desperate sounding boys. "Alright at six we go jogging" All of the boy's jaws dropped on the floor. "What? Did I say something wrong?" Ron asked his roommates. Seamus then replied,

"Six…mate are you trying to kill us?" Ron sighed as he lay in his bed to sleep, laughing silently.

At five thirty in the morning, Ron woke and saw that all the boys were getting changed. "What the hell?" Ron got up and watched Dean, who was dressed for jogging, walk towards him. "Come on mate, get dressed…we're going to go jogging aren't we?" Ron nodded slowly as Harry patted Ron on the back.

"You started it" Ron was still confused by all of his friends' sudden interest in wanting to get fit. "…and besides Quidditch practice is soon so we all might as well get fit for it." Ron, nodding, got changed in his black shorts and dark blue shirt.

"Okay" he said slowly and looked at the time to see that it was five to six. "Ready guys?" All of the people who wanted to join nodded and followed Ron outside. They jogged for thirty minutes and everyone except Ron was gasping for air and falling down. The tired joggers sat down to take a break as the Red Archer (Ron) looked at the lake. "Guys, want to go swimming?" Ron asked as he jerked his head towards the water. "The water should cool us down, yeah?" All of the boys agreed as they took off their shirts leaving them in their shorts as they all jumped in the water. But little did the boys know that all of the girls were watching from the Gryffindor tower, smiling happily at the sight.

"WOW" was all the girls could say while Hermione rolled her eyes as she read her book. Lavender then playfully nudged Pavarti who nodded, "Does Ron have a six pack?" All of the others giggled as they watched Hermione blush and lift her book higher to cover her face as Pavarti caught onto Lavender's game.

"Yeah, it's definitely easy to see; I bet if he gets a tighter school shirt, you can see it all the time." They couldn't see it but Hermione was pink and looked like she was about to explode in embarrassment. "If he had a red hood and a bow, he would be Hermione's hero." Hermione smiled and shook her head behind her book as she knew that Ron was already her hero.

"Come on guys! Let's get breakfast!" Ron shouted as they started to get out of the water. Ron pulled out his wand and performed a drying spell before putting back on his shirt, as the other boys copied his moves. The girls went downstairs for breakfast while Hermione looked out the window where the girls were staring at the boys. She saw Ron smile and wink at her causing her to blush again and got changed.

In the Great Hall, all of the boys were eating vast amounts due to their early morning workout. "Hey girls; enjoy the view this morning?" Ron playfully joked to all the Gryffindor girls who blushed and just looked down at their breakfast. Hermione in the meantime had just continued to look shyly at Ron who was wolfing down his food, making her smile.

"Slow down Ron; food's not going to anywhere!" Hermione joked to Ron, who pulled a weird face at Hermione and sighed,

"Sorry I haven't been eating lately; just too busy thinking about...uhh Cora...yeah…Cora. Adam and I tried everything to get her to talk but she won't." Hermione nodded while in Ron's mind sighed in relief but mentally kicked himself as he thought _'…more like been thinking about you in a non- best friend way all night and nothing else; well at least she bought the story'._

It was their first lesson with their new teacher from the Ministry of Magic, Dolores Umbridge. Harry sat next to Neville and Ron sat next to Hermione; Umbridge walked around the room and handed out books making everyone in the class confused, wondering why they had _**those**_books. Ron quickly flicked through the page then put his hand up. "Wait! This is just about theory!" Umbridge nodded. "Aren't we supposed to, you know- know how to defend ourselves against the dark arts?" Ron watched her frown and walked towards him.

"Mr Weasley; this is what the Ministry wants you to learn- there's nothing dangerous out there." Harry frowned then raised his hand.

"What about Voldemort?" Everyone in class gasped while Umbridge marched over angrily to Harry.

"I will not have someone say that name; you'll be in detention this night at seven." Harry sighed as she continued, "Once the Red Archer is captured there will be no danger in the world." Hermione watched Ron clench his fist until his hands turned white. "He thinks he's a hero but all he is, is a criminal for trying to expose the Wizarding World." She said in a haughty manner.

"Ron, please stop before you start bleeding," Hermione whispered to Ron who gazed at Hermione's worried brown eyes. He sighed and unclenched his hands and just gritted his teeth. Throughout the lesson, they just learned theories and nothing else. In advance math, Ron finished all of the work and just crossed his arms and laid his head on top of his desk as he looked out the window. McGonagall tapped three times on her desk which meant that Ron was needed in Dumbledore's office, so Ron put his hand up to respond to McGonagall's cue. "Please, may I go to the bathroom?" He asked his teacher who nodded.

Ron sped to Dumbledore's office; he opened the door and saw Adam and Morgan speaking with Dumbledore. "Hello Ronald" The young Red Archer nodded as he got closer to Nicky and Ally's father whose head, arms and torso were wrapped in bandages. "Morgan- what happened?" Ron asked Morgan who tried to smile but only winced in pain.

"Crossbow" Adam spat making his apprentice sigh and nod. "He was ambushed by KINGS" Ron nodded as he gritted his teeth in anger. The KINGS who were led by Crossbow, were in alliance with the Death Eaters; they were not only bounty hunters who took down Muggles and Wizards in both worlds, but they were also assassins who showed no mercy to anyone.

"Are you alright Morgan?" The injured man nodded and took a seat. "Why did you call me?" The three adults looked at Ron and explained their plans; Ron, knowing that his parents would be angry with him if any more harm came to him, just simply nodded. Ron knew that it was his duty to help them track down you-know-who and KINGS-to protect the Muggles and the Wizarding World…to protect Hermione; so he agreed to take part in the plan, even if it meant revealing his deep, dark secret to his parents.


	8. Chapter 8

OOTP part 2

It was Christmas time at Grimmauld Place. Ron was watching Cora, Ally and Nicky help Molly bake cookies as Hermione and Ginny were setting the table. He and Harry were trying to whisper as they wanted to speak privately about a very important matter. "Harry, we are not learning anything, and You-Know-Who is out there." The boy with glasses nodded in agreement. "Harry, teach us; you survived against him, teach _**us**_ to survive too." Harry sighed and was about to respond when they heard Ron's mother call.

"Dinner time!" Ron and Harry looked at each other and decided to put the conversation on hold as they went to join everyone for dinner. When everyone sat down, they started to eat the delicious food that the girls had prepared. Everyone ate, smiling and laughing at everything and anything they were discussing. After their dinner, they all helped out with the cleaning; Ron noticed that Hermione was carrying too many plates which caused her to lose her balance but Ron was there to stop her from falling. Smiling her thanks, Ron took half of the plates from her and placed them in the sink. The rest of the family helped clear what was left from the table as Molly and Tonks went to wash the dishes. While the children were gathered around the Christmas tree, they eagerly began searching for their presents under the tree. When Cora saw that the Weasley kids, Harry and Hermione had finished cleaning up, she ran over to Ron and started tugging on his sleeve to signal Ron that she was asking them to hurry up. "Alright…okay, we're done." Ron picked Cora up in his strong arms and hurriedly went towards the tree. "Come on guys, I think the kids will explode in excitement if we don't hurry." He joked as they walked towards the living room.

Adam and Ron handed out the presents to the kids first and then gave to the others. Ron's first present was from his parents- a maroon knitted sweater with a R on it; seeing this present, Ron just sighed and shook his head while plastering a smile on his face. He then opened a present from his siblings- a new chess set and from Harry was a pack of chocolate frogs (which he devoured in minutes). Adam and Morgan had given him a present earlier that week - an upgrade on his watch that helped him get changed faster into Red Archer.

That night Ron laid on the couch looking at the kids who were asleep on the other couch sleeping and waiting for Santa; but as with tired children, they all had fallen asleep as soon as the clock struck eleven. Almost falling asleep himself, he felt something on his lap causing him to open his eyes and saw a silver wrapped present. Turning to the side, he saw Hermione standing over beside him, wearing a bright smile on her face. "Open it," she said and Ron carefully unwrap the box and opened it as his eyes widened in surprise. It was a new sketchbook and water colours set that looked rather expensive.

"Hermione you shouldn't have- these look expensive." Hermione shook her head and replied,

"Go on Ron and take it, please...after what you have done for me, by getting hurt, saving me countless times and helping me get over my fear of water…you deserve it." Ron nodded and gently placed it on a table and then stood up and walked over to the tree and picked up his present to Hermione and gave it to her. "What on earth?" Ron smiled.

"Open it" Hermione eagerly opened it and was a little confused and disappointed to see it empty but she tried to smile while Ron took the present and showed her. "This represents how empty my life's been without you; Hermione, I like you more than a friend- if you feel the same, you will fill this box with so much happiness. Hermione please be honest with me, how do you feel about me?" Hermione stood there with her mouth gaped open in shock which Ron took as a rejection. "Oh well...let's just forget about it." Ron was about to walk away when Hermione grabbed his hand firmly.

"Please don't go; Ron, you and Harry are both my best friends. I see Harry as the brother I never had but with you… I see you so differently-ever since I unmasked you two years ago, my feelings for you escalated. I have liked you since the second year when you barfed up slugs for me…and truthfully, every year my feelings for you get stronger and stronger...this box means the same to me as it's been empty and I want it to be filled with love and happiness…and Ron…only your love can bring that happiness I want." Ron smiled brightly at Hermione who grinned back. They then leaned in closer and closer and finally their lips touched as a jolt of electricity ran through their bodies, causing each to experience a love that neither had ever felt. When they parted the two of them were wearing large smiles on their faces, wondering why they hadn't done this sooner. As they sat and stared at each other lovingly, Ron broke Hermione and himself out of their thoughts as he walked towards the tree.

"Now, time for your real present" Ron reached back under the tree and showed her another small wrapped box; he placed it in her hands and nudged her to open it. When she did, she didn't say much; it was a book which had disappointed Hermione a bit but smiled as she didn't want to hurt Ron's feelings. When Ron saw her reaction, he chuckled and said, "It's not a book." Hermione looked up at Ron who kept smiling. "Open it." Hermione opened it and flicked through and saw that it was full of drawings that Ron drew of her friends, family and her throughout the years. There were also photos and small messages for Hermione to see and read later. "Do you like it?" Ron asked Hermione who had tears coming down her face which Ron wiped away with his thumbs.

"I love it" Hermione grabbed Ron's neck and pulled him roughly down for a kiss as thank you when the door opened to reveal Adam dressed as Santa Clause. He looked shocked when he saw Ron and Hermione holding each other tightly and kissing each other, knowing that this was not really a good turn of events.

"Ron…Hermione...sorry to interrupt." Adam apologized as Ron and Hermione created space between them. "I was just going to drop presents off for the children." They were blushing red and nodded as Adam put three presents beside the three sleeping kids, knowing that the first thing they would see when they awoke would be the presents. As Adam was finishing his Santa duty, he turned to Ron and said, "Ron we need to go." Ron sighed and nodded as he apologized to Hermione. "I need to go Hermione, need to-" Hermione cut him off by kissing him. They slowly broke apart and looked lovingly in each other's eyes.

"I know but please… stay safe." Ron nodded and gave Hermione one final kiss before he took a couple of steps back and pressed a button on his watch to change into his Red Archer's costume. Ron kissed Hermione one more time before following Adam outside. Hermione went back upstairs to the room she shared with Ginny (who was fast asleep), thinking only of Ron.

"Are you sure Ron, I mean your parent won't be happy." The two Red Archers sat on top of a building taking in the view while looking out for any trouble that could occur, despite it being Christmas. "Adam, I want to help and I'm not learning anything." Ron explained to Adam who agreed. When Ron told Adam about his Defence Against the Dark arts teacher, (Umbridge) he took it upon himself to teach Ron spells that would help him fight enemies and protect the people he loves. "I'll tell my family when it's done." He nodded as Ron then handed Adam a wrapped gift. "Here- for you." Adam took it and opened it and gasped upon seeing a beautiful realistic hand drawing of his family placed in a beautiful wooden picture frame.

"Thanks Ron" Adam smiled at Ron who smiled back. "Love...Hermione with all your heart, Ron… because love is what made the Red Archer."

"I want to help you guys take down Crossbow after what he did to you and your daughter." Adam nodded and gave him a pat on the back, tears beginning to form in the corner of Adam's eyes.

"Ron we better get back now." Ron nodded as they started free running on the rooftops to get back to Grimmauld Place. When they got back it was two in the morning. Ron and Adam sneakily walked up the stairs trying hard not to make a sound. When Ron came to his room, he saw Harry fast asleep. He slowly walked over to his bag and got changed into his sleeping clothes then hid his Red Archer costume before he lay in his bed.

"_HELP!" the familiar voice rang in Ron's head, as he felt his body running up the stairs getting to a room where the source of the voice was coming; his hand reached out for the yellow doorknob and opened it and saw Jenna being held by her throat as her feet were dangling in the air and then started gasping for air. "Help me" she choked as the hooded figure laughed manically then looked at Ron who was wearing his Red Archer costume. _

"_Well...the trainee Red Archer" Ron gritted his teeth as he reached for an arrow but was stopped. "If you do that, then I will shoot her through her heart." He raised his metal crossbow to Jenna's heart causing him to stop at grabbing the arrow. "Drop your quiver and bow…now" Ron did what he was told and dropped his weapons on the floor. "Good" He smirked. "You will never be like the original Red Archer, boy." Ron gritted his teeth in anger. "But never mind" He then shot Jenna through the heart then dropped her on the floor causing Ron to charge at him but shot a spell at Ron causing him to freeze. Before making his escape, however, Crossbow put a metal sphere with a cross carving in Ron's frozen hand and whispered, "What a disappointed" before disappearing. Just as the spell wore off, Ron flew over to Jenna, praying he was there in time._

"_No no no!" Ron pulled down his hood and pressed a button on his utility belt to signal Adam. "Jenna hang on, Adam is on his way, hang on… please hang on." Ron pleaded as he applied pressure on her wound. "Hey hold on" Jenna shakily put her hand on top of the one that was trying to stop her bleeding. _

"_Please Cora...protect Cora, Ron." Ron nodded as tears started to fall from his face. "He was wrong, Ron… you will make a great Red Archer" and with that Jenna took her last breath and closed her eyes as Adam came bursting in._

Ron opened his eyes as he felt cold sweat coming down his face. "Ron?" Hermione called out with a worried look on her face. Ron, feeling a bit confused, scanned around the room and saw it was late morning. "Is everything alright?" Hermione asked Ron who took a deep breath and nodded.

"Nightmare…that's all" Hermione nodded as Ron got up. "What time is it?" Ron asked as he reached for his watch on the bedside table and put it on as Hermione answered his question.

" It's twelve thirty in the afternoon; your mum sent me to wake you up." She informed Ron who nodded then remembered something causing him to give Hermione a passionate kiss on the lips. Hermione eagerly kissed him back when Harry accidentally came in, causing them to part.

"Hey- sorry to interrupt" Harry said, mouth wide. He then grinned at them and clapped Ron on the back with a "Finally mate!" Ron and Hermione blushed as Harry hugged them happily. "So, you two together now, eh?" The couple nodded making Harry smile again. "Have you told anyone yet?" Their head shook simultaneously making Harry frown, "Wait, when did you get together?" He asked.

"Yesterday" They watched Harry break out in a large smile, confusing Ron and Hermione immensely.

"Well looks like Mrs Weasley and I win the bet!" Ron crossed his arms across his chest while Hermione raised an eyebrow at Harry who loudly gulped.

"Bet?" Hermione scowled while Ron smirked then told Harry,

"Better run mate" Harry did as he was told as Hermione and Ron chased him downstairs to the living room where everyone was congregating; Ron then grabbed Harry who quickly blurted out ,

"Ron and Hermione...Ron and Hermione are together!" Everyone in the room opened their mouths wide while the Red Archer (Ron) shook him madly.

"Ron let the poor boy down." Molly pleaded with Ron who dropped Harry on his bottom painfully. "So you and Hermione?" Ron and Hermione shyly smiled at everyone who smirked as Molly squealed in happiness, giving them both a bone crushing hug. She then turned to Arthur and smirked, "I win the bet Arthur…" She then held out her hand while Arthur sighed and handed his wife two galleons while Ron and Hermione's mouths gaped open in shock watching money being exchanged among a large group. To their surprise, they even saw the children handing over Chocolate Frogs, clearly showing Cora as the winner.

"Wait, all of you were betting on us getting together?" Everyone nodded making Ron and Hermione look at everyone weirdly. Ignoring everyone's antics, Ron and Hermione just smiled at each other before kissing each other soundly. As they were lost in each other, the one sound that could be heard through the whole room was cheers.

On the train ride home, Ron and Hermione were holding hand while Harry couldn't contain his happiness for his best friends. "Look guys, as happy as I am for you, do you have to be all lovey-dovey around me?" Ron and Hermione smirked at each other then gave each other a kiss making Harry pretend to be sick. When they parted, Harry complained "Really you guys" while Ron and Hermione just laughed.

It was their first lesson back in DA with Umbridge. Ron took a deep breath then raised his hand up, "I'm sorry but ever since you became a DA teacher we haven't learned anything." Everyone watched Umbridge frown and her face turning red with anger then shouted,

"Mr Weasley! I will not tolerate distractions in my class so I suggest you sit down and be quiet!" She spat at Ron who stood his ground firmly.

"No! Look if we don't learn something soon, we'll all be killed by Voldemort!" Ron shouted as everyone watched the row between the two. Umbridge, who had had enough finally snapped at Ron.

"I have had enough Mr Weasley; I assure you I can expel in this school without any problem as I have the authority to do so!" Ron took a breath and continued his tirade on his teacher,

"Go ahead, I rather learn from a better teacher!" Ron shouted as she raised a wand at Ron who did the same. "Trust me- say a spell and I'll counter." He warned her.

"That's it Mr Weasley! You are hereby EXPELLED!" She shouted as Dumbledore and McGonagall entered the room.

"Mr Weasley, please come with me." Ron walked out with the two teachers to the Headmaster's office. In Dumbledore's office, Ron sat in front of the Headmaster and the Head of Gryffindor. "Good acting Mr Weasley" He praised the Ron who nodded as McGonagall shook her head but then commented,

"But raising a wand to a teacher… was that really necessary?" Ron bit his lip then replied,

"Sorry, I got carried away." McGonagall shook her head as Dumbledore laughed when Ron turned serious. "But I can go to back to school next year right?" The two teachers nodded making him sigh in relief. "I'll pack my stuff then." The two nodded. Ron didn't go to any more lessons. When he was finished packing he turned to see Hermione who walked over to him and gave him a hug as tears fell down her face. "Hey it'll be alright...shhh...it's okay." Ron soothed Hermione who cried. Ron told Hermione about his mission, causing Hermione to worry even further. "Hey I'm sorry that I haven't taken you out on a date yet." Ron apologized but he felt Hermione shake her head then look into his eyes.

"I don't mind- besides we're Ron and Hermione… we're not like normal people." Hermione joked trying to lighten the situation while he just hugged her tighter and buried his face into her hair smelling her strawberry shampoo.

"But you don't deserve this." Ron whispered making Hermione shake her head as Ron continued speaking. "You don't, you deserve to be taken on dates at least every week or on Hogsmeade visits...I promise when I finish this mission I'll take you on a date" Hermione nodded and hugged Ron.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked as Ron sighed then kissed her forehead before explaining.

"To tell my parents about the REAL me; you better go now love." Hermione nodded then kissed Ron on the lips hard. When they parted he whispered, "I'll be back as fast as I can." Ron disappeared in a blink of an eye leaving Hermione alone. Ron opened the Burrow door revealing a very furious Molly and equally angry Arthur. "Mum, dad I can exp-" but was cut off by Molly who screamed at him.

"YOU GOT EXPELLED...I THOUGHT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FRED AND GEORGE TO BE EXPELLED BUT RAISING A WAND TOWARDS THE STAFF! RON IF YOU DON'T FINISH SCHOOL YOU WILL NOT GET A JOB, NOT BE ABLE TO PROVIDE FOR YOURSELF OR HERMIONE! YOU ARE TO BEG MISS UMBRIDGE TO BE IN HOGWARTS AGAIN!" Molly kept rambling on while Ron tried to figure a way into the "discussion". Finally, after ten minutes of shouting, she was breathing heavily and staring hard at her son.

"Mum please let me explain" Arthur nodded making Molly sigh and nodded for him to continue. "You might want to take a seat" Ron warned and they sat down on two chairs while Ron took a deep breath. "I know you have noticed that I've been really tired lately... well, the truth is… I'm the new Red Archer." Ron watched his parents freeze. "Hello? Mum dad?" Ron snapped his fingers in front of them. "I'll prove it" Ron took a step back and pressed a button on his watch that changed him into the Red Archer. "I had to pretend to drop out because I have a mission from Dumbledore; I won't be alone I promise because Adam is the original Red Archer and Morgan is the Black Arrow." Ron explained. "So…what do you all think?"

"Please Ronnie tell me that you're joking." Molly spoke shakily as Ron shook his head. "So you got expelled to hunt down You-Know-Who?" Ron nodded again making Molly sigh. "No, I am sorry but I will not let my baby boy go and get himself killed." Ron sighed then interjected,

"Mum I've been training for two years and there will be lots of us- Adam and Morgan's going to be there as well mum." Molly looked over to Arthur who nodded but she still didn't want to let her son go on the dangerous mission. "Mum please let me; I want to help Adam get the person that killed Jenna." Molly closed her eyes and thought and then finally spoke,

"Fine but you must promise that you will take your OWLS and come back alive." Ron smiled then drew a cross on his heart.

"I promise but mum I've already taken my OWLS." Molly and Arthur were confused as Ron reached into his pocket and showed them an envelope. Arthur opened it and the two read it and then cracked a smile when they saw Ron had gotten some high results. "I will come back alive" Ron promised.

"I promise you Molly, Arthur that Ron will be safe." The two suddenly turned and saw Adam and Morgan wearing their costumes. "We give you our word." Molly and Arthur nodded then gave Ron a hug.

"Be safe Ron" Ron nodded as Molly kissed Ron's cheek before he propped up his red hood and walked over to Adam and Morgan, disappearing in a flash.

Ron opened his eyes to see they were at an old house which made Ron a little confused.

"Where are we?" Ron asked as they entered.

"Guess" Morgan said simply as they walked through and saw pictures of people; some had crosses on their faces that were written in their own blood and Ron instantly knew it was one of Crossbow's hideouts. Ron closed his eyes and remembered that the ones with crosses were the victims he hunted down and assassinated viciously. He looked around further and saw a picture of Jenna with her own blood cross making Ron grit his teeth. Adam stayed away, not wanting to see the photo. "Ron you might want to see this." Morgan called Ron over to a large board. In the middle was a photo of the Red Archer with different red threads coming off it and connected to pictures of the Red Archer's weapons and gadgets; there were also pictures of other Red Archers and Black Arrows along with news articles. Ron peered at it closely and almost collapsed when he saw the article. It was from a year ago that showed him in his costume and Hermione dancing; but what really scared him was seeing a thread connected to that article with a picture of Hermione and black writing that read, 'Target.' Ron was furious as well as worried as he slowly sat down on a nearby stool, shaking. He covered his face with his hands as Adam and Morgan looked at each other, feeling pity for their young sidekick. Adam walked over to his student as Morgan started taking it the picture and article down.

"I can't believe I was that careless; now Hermione is going to be hunted by assassins and it's my entire fault." Ron blamed himself as Adam spoke to comfort him while Morgan took down the board and destroyed it.

"Hey Hermione will be safe, Ron. I give you my word; that's why we need to find him and KINGS before he strikes again." Ron nodded and got up before he started looking for clues again. He then noticed an injection needle that contained a dark blue liquid.

"Guys is this what I think it is?" His mentors walked over to Ron and gazed at the object in his hand then after a few seconds they nodded making Ron sigh. "Toxin was here" The substance was used by Crossbows right hand man called 'Toxin' who used poison to torture his targets and watch them suffer as they died; the results were vicious as it destroyed a person's lungs for months even years depending on how high the dose was and the survival rate was not very high.

When they searched everything, they sat down and thought where they could be then Ron noticed two people watching them. Ron stood up which alerted his mentors and started running away but they chased after them. After a few minutes of running they caught up with them and tied them to prevent them from escaping. "Who is it?" Adam asked as Morgan and Ron took of their mask showing Crossbow looking scared and another man who was bald with a thick beard with green eyes called Toxin. "YOU!" Adam shouted as he lifted Crossbow by his collar then pulled out a short knife but Morgan and Ron stopped him.

"No! You can't kill him, YET. We need information first" Adam sighed as he knew Ron was right so he dropped him painfully on the floor. "We'll take Crossbow and you take Toxin" Adam nodded and walked over to Toxin who he knocked out. Ron and Morgan wanted to make sure that Adam was far away from Crossbow before he killed him for taking away his daughter's mother at a young age. They then took them back to Grimmauld Place but covered their eyes so they couldn't see Adam and Morgan conjure up two interrogation rooms. Ron went to his mother who was crying happily and then gave her son a bone crushing hug as did his father.

"Thank god you're safe" Molly gasped making Ron smile as he pulled down his hood as Fred and George entered the room. The twins sat there staring, mouths going wide as they saw their baby brother in his Red Archer costume.

"No way...you're the Red Archer!" Ron sighed as he ran his hand through his hair as the other hand took off his sunglasses.

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked the two who smiled sheepishly then George explained,

"We dropped out of school." The Red Archer looked shocked and listened to his brothers continue. "We want to open up a joke shop in Diagon Alley; lots of people have been telling us to do this for years, so we decided to take on this little venture. Ron, looking curiously at them, pressed on.

"I understand that you guys have invented brilliant things but have you told mum or dad?" Ron asked them as he took off his equipment and placed it on the table before taking a seat on a chair nearby.

"We've told Dad and he doesn't mind; in fact he's happy that we know what to do but it's just mum…" Ron nodded knowing their mother would explode in anger just as he did when he told her he was the Red Archer. "We were hoping you would tell mum." Fred and George pleaded to Ron who sighed and shook his head.

"No way! I'm still in hot water with mum because of her finding out that I'm the Red Archer." Fred and George sighed and nodded. "Besides, explain to mum why you did this…she will understand, okay?" The twins nodded and understood as Ron stood up and put on his hood then his sunglasses. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to conduct an interrogation on some low life scum." Ron stood up and started walking to the outside of the interrogation room where he saw Adam and Morgan waiting. "Alright, Adam you get Crossbow" Adam smirked and entered the room before Ron could finish "and Morgan make sure he actually interrogates him and is not beating the crap out of him." Morgan nodded before going inside after Adam. A few seconds later, Ron could hear punches and the sound of someone being thrown to the walls multiple times. Fred and George looked at Ron and begged their younger brother to be watchers.

"Please can we watch?" George begged Ron who rolled his eyes and nodded as he pointed them to the next door where they could see what was happening. Kingsley and Mad-Eye were watching Crossbow's interrogation, making sure that Adam didn't go too far. Ron then entered the room while Fred and George watched. "We are going to take pictures… right my dear brother?"

"Of course" Fred replied happily as they saw Ron with an angry look on his face as Toxin showed fear in his eyes listening to the thuds and other loud sounds next door. Ron sat in front of him with a smirk on his face.

"You're lucky because they just broke a leg and an arm on your friend." He watched his green eyes widen in fear at Ron's comment. "Okay how many bones do I have to break to make you tell me what you KINGS and Voldemort are planning?" Ron asked as he stood up and cracked his knuckles and walked over to him. "You have three seconds to answer me" Ron warned. "One...two...three" Ron grabbed the back of his head and slammed his face on the metal table.

"Oowww" he moaned as Ron did it again. "oww...stop!" He shouted.

"Are you going to tell me?" He demanded but Toxin bit his tongue making Ron bang his head on the table some more. When Toxin wouldn't help out Ron, he then lifted Toxin up and threw him against the wall hard. Ron then sat down by his side and smiled. "How about now?" Ron asked as he pulled out a short knife and showed it to him; he swore he heard him gulp. "Every minute you make me wait, I will draw a line on your arm...starting now- what are you guys planning!" Ron asked him again. Still not saying anything, Ron being true to his word, grabbed Toxin's arm and was about to cut him but stopped.

"Please, please I'll tell you, I'll tell you...please don't" He babbled. "They are gathering an army...Lord Voldemort wants to take over the Wizarding World" Ron halted his actions and thought for a moment but Ron felt he knew more so he jammed the knife through the metal table and hauled Toxin up by the collar of his shirt and threw him against the wall again. Ron picked up his knife and walked slowly towards Toxin.

"I know you know more" Toxin started to worry as Ron walked slowly over towards him. "You know I can get the Red Archer and Black Arrow to conduct this interrogation, right?" He warned him making him worry even more. Just as Ron was about to call for Adam, he saw Adam enter and whispered loud enough for Toxin to hear.

"Well I broke two arms and a leg and sprained the other leg along with causing multiple bruises everywhere." He then looked at Toxin then tutted, "Well you haven't done much damage." Ron shrugged then stared at the table that had a large dent from the torture. "Want me to take a turn?" He cracked his knuckles and then his neck, making Toxin cringe and shiver in fear as he blurted out,

"Okay! Lord Voldemort is planning to get the prophecy from the Department of Mysteries and to capture Harry Potter tomorrow! Please, just don't hurt me!" Ron looked at Adam who nodded as Kingsley came inside.

"You know what to do." He told the Auror who nodded as the two Red Archer's left, feeling a bit satisfied from the outcome of this mission. But just as they were leaving, Ron suddenly remembered that Hermione was still a target and felt a boulder in his stomach; he whispered aloud, "I promise Hermione, no one will ever hurt you, love…no one." With that, Ron and Adam fled to inform the rest of the Order.


	9. Chapter 9

Ron walked inside Adam's weaponry room and took a deep breath at everything that he saw. "Take this" Adam said and threw a metal tube with a pin to Ron; Ron studied it carefully then asked,

"What is it?" Adam grinned and tossed him a couple more tubes that Ron caught easily.

"Freeze bomb- it freezes someone for a long period of time…I think for at least three hours." Ron smiled at Adam and let out a "Wicked" as he put them on his utility belt. "Now remember the plan." Ron nodded again as he went over to a rack full of different bows that his mentor had created. As Ron was busy looking at the different weapons, he heard Adam speak. "Ron, I have something for you" he started as he walked over to his large safe and opened it; reaching inside, Adam brought out a silver bow that was equipped with the latest technology. "Here, I made it for you." Ron took the gift in his hands and compared its weight to the one he had been using; he noticed that it was much lighter than his own bow and was much stronger.

"Thank you Adam, you didn't have to." Adam shook his head and smiled at Ron. In Adam's eyes, Ron had become like the son that he never had, but wanted. He and Jenna were planning to have another child, but now that his wife was gone, Adam made a vow to never marry again as the only person he loved was no longer with him and his daughter. Ron gave Adam a large smile as he thanked him for his gift. Walking away, still in awe over his gift, Ron went to sit down on a bench as Adam joined him. The two men sat there quietly when Ron was the first to speak. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect Jenna" he said in a low voice. Adam could see that the guilt was tearing up his young pupil and knew he had to stop Ron from beating himself up.

"Ron it doesn't matter; Cora and I don't blame you as it wasn't your fault. Besides, you have come a long way since then so please don't dwell on the past mate, but rather, think about the future." Ron sighed and nodded. "Come on, let's get some rest." Ron did as instructed and went to the room Adam had made up for his young mentee. They had decided that it was best for Ron to sleep at Adam's since his mentor was going to meet someone who was not only a mole in the KINGS, but a Death Eater as well. Not wanting to leave his baby girl alone, Adam had asked Ron to babysit Cora for the night, which Ron had happily accepted.

It was now ten at night; Ron was lying on the sofa staring out the window at the twinkling stars that somehow had reminded him of Hermione which of course, made him miss her more. Ron was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly heard tiny soft footsteps coming down the stairs. He sat up and saw the oak door open to reveal Cora clutching her teddy bear tightly as she slowly walked over to Ron. Seeing this sight made Ron's heart break, knowing that his little buddy couldn't sleep. She stared at him with her big brown eyes and finally Ron gave in as he let her get under the covers with him.

"Cora please, please speak" Ron pleaded with the little girl who only stared back at Ron's baby blue eyes then shook her head and signed that she wasn't ready to speak. This made Ron nod then hug her tightly. "But soon, right sweetie?" Cora nodded as Ron smiled then ran his fingers through her brown hair as the two started to drift off to sleep.

The smell of bacon and eggs cooking woke up Adam's daughter as her little nose caught the heavenly smell. She got up with the teddy bear in tow then walked to the kitchen where she saw Ron cooking their breakfast. Ron turned and flashed a lopsided smile at Cora before turning his attention to the food. "Morning Cora" he said cheerfully as Cora sat down at the table while Ron turned off the stove and put the food on a large plate before placing it on the table. "Eat up Cora" he said as he poured her a glass of orange juice then took a seat across from her as the two started to gobble their breakfast.

As they were busy eating, they heard a "Morning everyone" and watched Adam enter the room. Cora jumped off her chair excitedly and charged towards her father who scooped her up in a strong bear hug. "How's my little girl?" Adam asked his daughter who signed okay; this made her father smile sadly as he kissed her forehead gently and placed her down to join them for breakfast. As they were eating, Adam asked, "Ron, are you ready to leave for the Burrow? Morgan and I will pick you up at five tonight." Ron nodded while trying to swallow his food. "Okay, we will see you then." Ron smiled at Adam as he quickly placed his plate in the sink and gave a quick kiss on Cora's head and waved goodbye before heading home.

As Ron was about to open the door, he heard his mother's familiar shouting. He could distinctly hear "NOT YOU TWO TOO-DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL TO OPEN UP A JOKE SHOP?!" Ron silently opened the door and sneaked towards the kitchen to get a drink when he caught a glimpse of his mother's back turned away from him. His twin brothers saw Ron and were looking at him for help but Ron shook his head as if to say 'Are you MENTAL?!" The twins only glared at their younger brother while he shrugged his shoulders as he continued to listen to the "discussion". "AND HOW ON EARTH DO YOU EXPECT TO GET THE MONEY TO OPEN YOUR GIFT SHOP?" their mother asked angrily as her twin sons looked at each other, not sure what to say. It was finally Fred who had spoken first, wondering if maybe that had not been a mistake.

"Going to get a loan from Harry; we promise we'll pay him back, mum." Molly shook her head vehemently.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU TAKE MONEY FROM THE POOR BOY!" Ron seeing that maybe it was time to free his brothers from their mother's tirade finally stepped in to put out some of the flames. "Mum, Harry doesn't mind, really; besides what Fred and George have created, I am sure that they will return the money within a couple of months or weeks even." Ron, not sure if it was a good idea to continue in this direction of conversation, continued further. "I mean it's their life mum; let them live it how they want." Molly just stared at her sons and threw her arms up in the air and walked away, shaking her head and mumbling how it was all Arthur's side of the family and male Weasley stubbornness. The three boys could only watch their mother walk away as Ron piped up, "Well, looks like you told her, eh?" Ron playfully joked as Fred and George frowned and then George whispered,

"I think we just have been to hell and back." Fred and Ron nodded vigorously at this.

"At least you two were together; I was alone when the devil came out the day I told her about my being the Red Archer." The three brothers could only laugh at their mother's reaction when they suddenly heard a cough behind them. They all turned around slowly and saw Molly with her arms crossed in front of her chest making the brother's gulp in fear.

"Well, the devil would like you to go and degnome the garden now or neither of you will be eating _anything_." She warned her sons but then laughed as she watched the boys quickly try to get out of the door at the same time, causing them to be stuck. Molly, still laughing, had decided that the boys had had enough and took out her wand to unglue her sons from the door and from each other. With the spell recited, the three Weasley boys went flying out the door, sending curse words at each other. 'Ah, only my sons could say words like that' she said to herself as she left to return to making lunch.

Ron was in his room wearing his Red Archer uniform as he patiently waited for Adam and Morgan to arrive. A few minutes later, he heard a whistle from outside; he went to the window and smiled when he saw his mentors with three Pegasus's. He saw Morgan riding the black one and Adam riding the dark brown one. He then saw a light brown one which he knew was for him. Ron waved to his mentors and began to climb out of his bedroom window, not wanting to go downstairs and risk his parents seeing him. He realized that although his parents now knew that he was the Red Archer, he felt that his parents were still not too keen on the idea of their youngest son putting himself in danger. So wanting to be respectful of his parents (and not wanting to get lectured) he made sure to not make any noise as he slowly climbed out of the window to meet his mentors.

"Come on let's go, Ron" Adam said as he rushed Ron who quickly got on his horse. Patting his horse, the horse neighed happily at Ron. "Hey there Jasper-okay let's go." The three kicked their horses as they swiftly took off into the air and flew towards London.

When they had arrived at their destination, they sneaked past the security as they entered; they started searching for the prophecy that Toxin had told them about when suddenly Ron saw a small sphere with bluish white smoke. Ron went to grab the orb as he felt another hand grab it too. Looking up, he was shocked to see Harry, Hermione, Neville, Luna and Ginny present. "What are you doing here?!" Ron hissed at them as Morgan and Adam came over.

"What are _we_ doing here, what are _you _doing here?" Harry asked as Ron hugged Hermione tightly.

"Getting that" Ron pointed to the sphere in his hand. "Voldemort is trying to get it." But just as Harry was about to argue with Ron they heard Adam's thundering voice.

"We need to go!" Adam shouted at all of them suddenly as Death Eaters surrounded them prompting Ron, Morgan and Adam to ready their arrows. "When we release the arrow, you all need to run!" Adam ordered everyone who anxiously nodded. The men simultaneously released the arrows that created some large smoke on impact. Using the smoke as a momentary distraction, Morgan had grabbed Neville and Luna as Adam took Ginny and Harry, while Ron grabbed Hermione and started running. But as they were all running, Harry slowed down as he looked down at his hands and had realized that the Prophecy was not there.

"Where is it" Harry said as Adam smiled then said playfully,

"Ron may have pick pocketed you, Harry." Harry's eyes widened in shock but forgot about what Ron did as he was concerned of the whereabouts of his two best friends.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Department of Mysteries, Ron and Hermione were running when suddenly Hermione tripped and twisted her ankle. Ron immediately stopped in his tracks and kneeled down as he looked around to check to see if anyone was near them.

"Are you alright?" Ron asked worriedly of Hermione who shook her head as she held her ankle. "Can you walk?"

"I don't think I can" she cried out as Ron sighed then picked her up in a bridal style. "RON! Put me down now!" Ron ignored her and started running while trying to find the exit. Hermione still annoyed with him for risking his life for hers, saw that he had the Prophecy in his possession. "YOU have it?" Ron nodded then kissed her forehead then whispered,

"Be quiet! We'll talk later- I promise." Hermione nodded as she let Ron carry her as he searched for an exit. Finally, they had reached the door where they saw the others. "Harry- catch" Ron threw the sphere to Harry who caught it. Everyone entered through the door when suddenly they were attacked by Death Eaters. Ron placed Hermione gently down somewhere hidden and whispered, "Stay here" and kissed her on the cheek. Ron ran and took the freeze bomb off his utility belt and threw it towards one of the Death Eaters; the bomb had exploded upon impact as the Death Eater's body froze on the spot.

Ron then got an arrow that was filled with a painful shock and aimed and hit another Death Eater and then another. Ron, Adam and Morgan took most of them down when suddenly "Avada Kadavra" was shouted as a light green flash hit Morgan causing everyone to stop in their tracks.

"Morgan- stay with me, Morgan!" Adam shouted as he shook his partner awake but Morgan's breathing was growing shorter and shorter. With tears in his eyes, Ron pulled down Morgan's hood and his sunglasses.

"Take care of Erica and the girls" was Morgan's last wish before he drew his last breath as the Death Eaters left before they were caught. Finally, the Aurors arrived as did Erica who gasped when she saw her husband not breathing and ran over to him as tears started falling from her eyes.

"No Morgan please don't- Morgan!" Ron stood up then helped Hermione walk over to the others as tears fell down her face as well; Hermione hugged Ron tightly as his own tears started to fall down. As they were all grieving, they saw many reporters flashing their cameras as they came out of the Department of Mysteries hoping to get questions answered, which no one was willing to give.

Back at the Burrow, they broke the news to Nicky and Ally who were heartbroken to hear that their father was never coming back. As Cora watched the scene before her, she hugged the two girls. "It will be alright" she whispered loudly enough for everyone to gasp.

"Cora you spoke!" Ron exclaimed as Adam's daughter nodded slowly. "But why now?" Ron asked as he walked towards her.

"I don't want Ally and Nicky to turn into me and not speak for a while, Uncle Ron." Ron nodded as he picked up the little girl in his strong arms. "Besides, I had a dream that mummy wanted me to speak again." Ron sadly smiled then handed Cora off to Adam who hugged her tightly while Ron went over to Nicky and Ally who were crying their eyes out.

"Hey- girls it will be alright…your dad…he was a good man and wouldn't want you crying for him like this." Ron spoke softly to Morgan's daughters when he then heard Nicky ask,

"Will the pain be gone?" She cried as Ron looked at his family who stared down at their feet. Taking a deep breath, Ron did his best to reassure them.

"No the pain will always be there but it will get better in time… I promise." Ron gulped and then hugged the girls who cried on his shoulder. A few minutes had passed and Nicky and Ally had finally cried themselves to sleep. Erica picked up Ally gently and then Ron stood up gently being careful not to wake Nicky. "Put them in my room, you can sleep there too…I'll sleep down here." Ron informed Erica who nodded as they walked up the stairs. Ron sighed as Adam took a seat next to him. "It's my fault…it's happened again." Ron covered his face with his hands as Adam proceeded to hit him on the back hard. "OOWW"

"For goodness sake Ron it's not YOUR fault that Jenna and Morgan died- none of us blame you!" Adam saw that Ron was about to speak but he stopped him. "Ron, listen…Cora and I don't blame you for Jenna's death and Erica and the girls don't blame you for Morgan's death either." Ron sighed then stormed out making Adam sigh as Cora was about to go after him but Adam grabbed her gently. "No sweetie" Adam looked at Hermione. "Could you talk to him Hermione?" She nodded then walked after Ron.

Hermione kept walking until she saw Ron sitting on the bank with his feet in the cool water; she slowly made her way to her boyfriend and when she got there she saw Ron with tears falling down making her heart feel like it had been stepped on numerous times. She sat down next to him. "Ron" she carefully started as she held his large hand "It's no-" Ron cut her off by speaking,

"I don't need to hear it again Hermione; I just want to clear my head...I just, I just need you to come closer." Hermione cuddled up to Ron who hugged her tightly. They stood there in silence listening to their heartbeats when finally after a few minutes, he broke the silence. "Do you think it's my fault that they died?" He asked making Hermione shake her head vigorously.

"No Ron- it's not your fault that they are gone; like Adam said you are NOT to blame-at all." Ron sighed as he buried his face in Hermione's hair and inhaled her heavenly scent as she hugged him tighter.

"I love you-so damn much." Ron muttered when he felt Hermione stiffen making Ron smile before kissing Hermione's forehead while her face showed confusion. "Wow- I made Hermione Granger speechless…I am good!" He smirked playfully eliciting a smile from Hermione as she let Ron kiss her. When they parted Hermione whispered something that made Ron tingle.

"I love you too, Ron." Ron and Hermione then smiled at each other. "I'm glad you're safe." Ron hugged Hermione. "You are coming back next year right?" She asked him worriedly as he smiled and nodded as she sighed in relief.

"I still owe you a date-remember?" Ron said before kissing her cheek while Hermione scoffed and shook her head.

"I told you before Ron, you don't need to take me on a date…you already have me." Ron blushed a little but then replied,

"Yes I do- you deserve to be taken on a date. I promise over the summer...I'll try and take some time off and not work." Ron playfully drew a cross on his chest where his heart was located. "I promise" Hermione smiled and kissed him again. As they were kissing they were suddenly startled by an annoying screech from a bird that caused them to break apart with a frown. Ron glared hard at the bird and then picked up a pebble and used his bow to send the pebble at the bird, almost hitting it, and causing it to fly away.

"Ron that was awful" Hermione was about to slap Ron on his arm but he grabbed it then whispered in her ear,

"Trust me Hermione you haven't seen my bad side...yet" Hermione blushed making Ron laugh. "If you're good you might never need to see it." Hermione smirked then said,

"But what if I do?" Ron smiled as he leaned in closer.

"Then you might be making the biggest mistake of your life because my bad side may scar your innocence." Ron joked as Hermione got redder and redder as he decided to stop because he was afraid that Hermione might faint from embarrassment. "Come on love-we better get inside now." Ron insisted of his girlfriend who nodded and then walked hand in hand back to the Burrow.

The next day, Ron woke up to see Nicky who was staring at her glass of milk causing Ron to walk over towards her. "Hey there blue eyes" (Ron's nickname for the twins was their eye colour). "How are you feeling?" Ron asked as he sat down next to her as tears started to fall hard.

"Uncle Ron" he couldn't help to smile; the twins have always called him Uncle ever since they could talk and always called their parents' friends uncle and aunties. "Will daddy be watching us from heaven?" She asked as Ron wiped her tears away with his thumbs then replied,

"No matter what Nicky, your dad will always be watching you and will love you no matter what." Nicky nodded as she cried into Ron's chest then hugged her tightly when Hermione came into the room, smiling at the scene. She could tell that Ron would be an amazing father in the future, thus causing her heart to soar more.

"Hey Hermione" Nicky moved away from Ron and started to drink some of her milk while Hermione took a seat across from her.

"Hello Nicky, how are you?" Hermione asked as Ron started to cook breakfast for everyone.

"Okay I guess" Hermione smiled as Nicky stopped crying then turned to Ron and asked, "Uncle Ron, can I have pancakes?" Ron smiled then nodded,

"Okay but you have to help me." Nicky walked over to Ron who picked her up and placed her on the kitchen counter before getting a large mixing bowl and then got the ingredients that he needed. Hermione watched the two create the batter for the pancakes; she couldn't help but smile when she saw Nicky grab the wooden spoon as Ron's large hands covered hers and they started mixing the ingredients together. Ron then put some of the batter in the frying pan and after a few minutes had both flipped it on the other side, creating a mountain of pancakes for everyone to eat.

The following week was Morgan's funeral and Erica, Nicky and Ally were all crying their eyes out. When it was over and everyone went home, Ron stayed and stared at Morgan's tombstone which read:

_Morgan Hugo Collins  
A wonderful father and husband  
Will always live in our hearts forever  
Hero and a friend to everyone_

Ron clenched his fist when a large hand clamped on his shoulder, knowing who the person was behind him. Adam stood there wearing his Red Archer costume but his hood was down. "It's not your fault Ron…it's life, mate." He explained to his student who still hung his head down. "Come on- we have some work to do…" Ron nodded then changed into his costume and followed Adam for their next mission.

It was their last day at Hogwarts and the parents were waiting for the trains. "Ron I heard you got expelled" Mrs Granger asked worriedly of Ron who bit his lip and told her,

"I um... I'm going back next year; there's a personal reason why I was expelled." Mrs Granger nodded then Ron turned to Molly who gave him a look which meant _tell them soon because you're dating their daughter_.

"So I hear from Hermione that you two are dating, is that true?" Mr Granger asked Ron who gulped loudly and nodded as Mr Granger reached into his pocket, making him somewhat leery of what Mr Granger was taking out. He then sighed in relief however when he saw Mr Granger take out his wallet and handed a ten pound note to his wife. "I guess you win Jenny" Ron's mouth gaped open in surprise.

"Is everyone betting on us?" Ron gasped as the Granger's laughed when suddenly Jack turned serious.

"Take good care of Hermione, son…. if not I'll kick your arse." Ron gulped as he nodded as they all heard a high pitch screech indicating that the Hogwarts Express was approaching. Everyone could finally see all of the students waving happily at their parents' cheering. When the doors opened, the students came pouring out with excitement. Ron waited anxiously but then saw Hermione, Harry and Ginny step out at the same time. Seeing Ron, Hermione immediately launched herself into his arms as he lifted her up and spun them around. Still lost in each other, they stopped when they heard her father cough slightly. "Don't worry about us Hermione- haven't seen you for a while but go ahead, sweetie." Hermione giggled as she ran over to her father and gave him a hug as Jenny then came over and hugged her too. When Ron saw how protective her parents were of their daughter and how much they loved her, Ron had repeated the same vow he made to himself last year: 'I swear on my life that I will always protect and keep her safe.'


	10. Chapter 10

Hermione was reading in her living room when suddenly Harry's Stag Patronus came galloping through, making Hermione wonder what Harry could want. "Hermione, Ron is in St Mungo's Hospital" came Harry's voice. Hermione dropped her book the second she heard the words 'Ron' and 'hospital'. She quickly looked for her parents and found them in the kitchen making dinner.

"Ron's in the hospital" she gasped out when a pop was heard in the living room. They all quickly ran towards the sound and saw that it was Adam, standing there with a worried and sad expression.

"Hermione, Ron...Ron is hurt badly." Adam said as his breaths grew shorter.

"Adam please take me there…now." Hermione whispered. Adam looked at Hermione's parents silently asking if he could take their daughter with him to see Ron. Her parents, still stunned by the news, slowly nodded their approval as Adam grabbed Hermione's hand and disapparated them to St Mungo's. When they arrived, she ran as fast as she could and saw the Weasleys and Harry waiting outside the operation room. "What happened?" She asked Adam who took a deep breath to explain.

"We were chasing a KING member." Hermione nodded. "He placed a bomb in a school… Ron said that he would evacuate the school so I could chase the intruder. But when I finally had caught him I was too late. I saw the building explode as everyone had gotten out and was safe but… Ron wasn't." Hermione gasped as Adam looked down and then towards the Operation Room. The door opened and revealed Ron lying on a gurney. Hermione gasped when she saw her boyfriend's face covered in scratches and his body covered in bandages. The doctor came out of the operation room taking off his gloves, staring at all of the redheads in the room. Hermione and everyone else ran towards the doctor and bombarded him with questions. "Whoa simmer down, please. Ron is stable but still in serious condition. We found poison in his lungs and were able to remove almost ninety-five percent; however, there is still five percent that we were unable to get but we don't believe that it will affect him." Everyone sat silent and waited for the doctor to continue. "In the blast, Ron's torso received the most damage due to the shrapnel but we were able to get it all out. It will scar for a while but they will fade over time. His other injuries include a right hand that was crushed by large debris which broke and dislocated his hand and that will take time for it to recover." Everyone still remained in silence wondering if there was more to come. "That's the good news" (sure enough here it comes). "The bad news is that Ron is in a coma right now and we are not sure when he will wake up." After hearing these words, everyone started to cry. Hermione, however, just stood staring blankly at the wall, not making a sound. Seeing everyone's reaction, the doctor then spoke up, "If you want to see him, he's in room 251." The Weasleys all followed the doctor as Harry walked over to Hermione who still hadn't moved and slowly grabbed her hand, leading her towards Ron's room. They all made their way inside and saw Ron sleeping peacefully on the white hospital bed.

Hermione saw Ron's eyes were moving but wasn't waking up. "Doctor, why are Ron's eyes moving?" Everyone looked at the red haired boy as the doctor explained.

"REM...rapid eye movement- it means that Ron is dreaming or he is relieving a memory." Everyone nodded as Mrs Weasley patted her youngest son's red fiery red hair. The Weasleys all looked at Ron and said their good nights as they made their way out to let Ron sleep.

Harry and Hermione were the last two left in Ron's room. Harry looked at Hermione and watched his best friend staring at their other best friend. "Hermione? We really need to let Ron sleep. We need to leave." But Hermione just kept staring at her boyfriend. "Hermione-come on…Ron wants you to be okay. He will kill me when he wakes up and knows that you are like this." But Hermione just seemed to ignore Harry. Finally, after a few minutes, Hermione burst into tears and cried on Harry's shoulder. Harry just patted her on her back and tried to console her. "I love him so much Harry. I don't know what I will do if he doesn't wake up" she cried. Harry still held her and gently told her, "Hermione, Ron loves you more than life; you know that he will do everything in his power to come back to you." Hermione just tearfully nodded and then walked over to Ron's bed. She slowly bent down and pecked him on his cheek and whispered, "Please come back to me…I love you, Ron." She then turned away from his bed and slowly walked out with Harry to return to the Burrow.

The next day arrived and everyone prepared to apparate to the hospital. They were walking towards the room when Molly and Arthur stopped to speak with Ron's doctor to get updates about their son's condition. Hermione kept walking with the others and were told that she could go and be with Ron while they waited outside. Nodding her thanks, she walked slowly into Ron's room and saw that he was the same as the previous day. She walked over to his bed and grabbed Ron's hand. Her thumbs were stroking his large hand as she whispered, "Please, please Ron… wake up." She watched his eyelids move but not opening which made Hermione sigh. She then looked at the tube that was lodged deep down Ron's throat. "Ron I love you, please wake up for me" she begged him but got no response.

Hermione sat there for what seemed like hours, just holding onto Ron's hand. She then heard a voice behind her and she looked up towards the door.

"Hermione dear you should get home now… your parents are probably very worried about you." Molly and Arthur looked at their son's girlfriend whose eyes had large bags under them and her hair all dishevelled (moreso than usual). "We'll tell you if Ron wakes, dear…please go home." Hermione nodded and was getting ready to leave when she felt Ron's hand grip tightly onto hers.

"Ronald?" Arthur spoke to his son who wouldn't let go of Hermione. Still not letting go of Hermione, his eyes suddenly flashed open and started to panic which caused him to start choking on the plastic tube that was lodged in his throat. All of the Mediwitches and the doctor came in when they heard Ron's distress. The doctor walked over to Ron and looked at Ron's vitals. He then asked,

"Mr Weasley do you want me to take the tube out?" Ron nodded. "Okay" He ordered the Mediwitch to slowly and carefully pull out the tube. The red haired patient cough for a few minutes then finally calmed down.

"Where am I?" Ron croaked as he sat up. Molly, seeing her son awake, could only cry as she talked to her son.

"You're in the hospital, Ronnie." She wiped her tears away with her hand as Ron then turned to Hermione.

"Who are you?" Ron asked curiously as everyone gasped. Hermione had felt like her heart had stopped beating.

"Ron, please tell me this is a joke." Hermione's tears started to fall down her face hoping that it really was a joke but when she looked into Ron's icy blue eyes, she fearfully could see that he really was telling the truth.

"How do you know my name?" He asked as Hermione cried even more when Molly spoke.

"This is Hermione Granger, dear- your girlfriend and best friend." Ron turned his head to the side in confusion as he stared at her.

"Girlfriend? Mum I'm only ten, I still haven't even gone to Hogwarts yet." Everyone's eyes widened in shock and surprise when they heard Ron's response.

"Ron what year is it, son?" Arthur asked Ron who thought for a moment and then said,

"1990- right?" Everyone shook their heads. "So what year is it then?" Ron asked when the doctor said,

"1995; Ron you are fifteen and will be in your sixth year at Hogwarts." Ron's brow furrowed and shook his head.

"I don't understand…why-" Ron stopped talking as he covered his mouth and ducked his head into the bin and puked out blood and vomit; Molly rubbed his back helping him to empty his stomach and whispered loving words into her son's ear. When he had finally stopped, Molly wiped the blood off his chin and he lay back down but kept staring at Hermione. "There's no way she's my girlfriend; she's too..." Ron blushed and muttered, "Pretty"

Hermione wiped her eyes as she slightly smiled. "Molly, Arthur… let's talk in my office." The doctor said as Molly and Arthur nodded and followed the doctor outside. The doctor then looked at Hermione and said, "Fill him in, okay?" Hermione nodded and everyone left them alone. Ron was sneakily staring at Hermione but then quickly looked away as she caught him in the act. She knew that even though Ron's memory was jumbled at the moment, the old Ron was still in there somewhere. She walked over and sat next to him on his bed and started to speak.

"Ron, are you sure you don't remember anything?" Hermione asked Ron, who closed his eyes thinking hard, and then said,

"NO! I'm really sorry but I don't remember anything." Hermione sighed as Ron watched her and caught him again staring at her which made him blush and look away. "Sorry, I just can't believe that you're my girlfriend; how did I...I mean..eerrmm.. never mind…" Ron blushed and stared down.

"Ron" he looked up "Please remember soon okay?" Ron sighed then grabbed Hermione's hand quickly to prevent her from leaving.

"Wait! Have we kissed yet?" Ron asked Hermione who blushed then nodded as Ron blushed and his ears turned pink. "I'm really sorry that I can't remember…" He apologized as she shook her head then cupped Ron's cheek with her hand and noticed that Ron had a bit of stubble growing. She kissed Ron's forehead and said,

"Just rest okay? I need to see my parents but I'll come back later… I promise." Ron nodded as he lay down while Hermione made her way to the door and waved goodbye before leaving.

Hermione arrived home then went straight up to her room. Her mother followed her upstairs and could hear her daughter crying inside her bedroom.

"Hermione sweetheart what's wrong?" She asked as she sat down on her daughter's bed where she was lying on her stomach with her face buried in her pillow hiding her tears. "What is it?" She questioned her daughter again.

"Ron; he forgot the last five years of his life, of us." Hermione cried as she sat up to look at her mother. Jenny hugged her daughter tightly trying to comfort her while she clutched on the necklace that Ron gave her two years ago. Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Ron feeling that he was needed somewhere had felt a jolt of pain in his mind as he had some flashback of him with a boy with black hair and circular glasses and a very much younger looking Hermione.

"Arrghhh" Ron cringed in pain as more and more flashbacks forced into his mind which made him feel as if his head was about to explode. A Mediwitch had heard Ron's distress as she was making her rounds and rushed into Ron's room.

"Mr Weasley please calm down" Ron shook his head when more and more flashes invaded his mind causing his body to convulse and have no control of his body; seeing that Ron was not going to calm down, the Mediwitch had injected him with a sedative and finally Ron started to drift off to sleep.

The next day, Ron was slowly eating his breakfast when there was a knock on the door revealing Harry. "Hey mate how are you?" He asked as he entered before taking a seat next to his bed. "Remember anything yet?"

"I'm okay thanks mate; I remember the first year we saved Hermione from a troll and the teacher was a bad guy." Harry nodded then smiled. "Then second year a giant snake… then the next year a man that changed into a dog and a man changing into a werewolf- that's all for now" Ron explained. Harry could only smile when he heard the doctor from behind.

"Your memory is returning well, Mr Weasley," his doctor entered with a large smile on his face. "Mr Potter" Harry nodded as the doctor looked at a clipboard that disclosed Ron's condition. "At this rate, you can be discharged in three weeks." Ron nodded when he suddenly saw that Hermione and the rest of the Weasleys had arrived to hear the news. "Finish your breakfast Ronald" the doctor advised Ron who nodded and continued eating. The doctor then turned to leave, greeting everyone with a good morning.

"Ronald, how are you?" Molly asked Ron who smiled then spoke,

"I'm okay- just a little headache." Everyone then crowded around Ron's bed to talk with him, making jokes and just general conversation.

That night everyone went home except for Hermione and Molly who wanted to stay. Molly was outside speaking to the doctor about Ron's condition while Hermione was reading a book as Ron was secretly gazing at her. He was caught by her smiling at him causing him to blush and bite his lip in embarrassment. "Uhmm...Hermione?" He called out making her look up from her book. "I was wondering… what do you exactly see in a bloke like me?" Ron asked Hermione who smiled wide.

"I love that you're sweet, kind, can be smart most of the time and is amazing as a Red Archer." Ron's eyes widened in surprise at the last part not quite sure what was told to him.

"The Red Archer?" Ron couldn't remember about his secret identity and Hermione just sat looking at Ron realizing that this was a bit of his memory he had not regained.

"Ron? You are the newest Red Archer-remember?" Ron shook his head. "That's why you're in the hospital because you were doing a mission with Adam." Hermione explained but could see that he still had a blank expression on his face. As Hermione was ready to continue her story, she saw Adam enter the room and spoke,

"Hermione can I talk you?" Hermione nodded at Adam as Molly came in and took a seat next to Ron while she went outside to talk to Adam who searched for a private room.

"I think Ron is blocking his life as the Red Archer because last year Ron saw that you might be targeted by KINGS and he blamed himself… so I think his mind is trying to make him forget that he is the Red Archer for fear that you might be attacked next." Hermione nodded as she sighed. "Try and jog Ron's memory by pictures or letters or newspaper articles okay?I'm too busy tracking down the KINGS to help Ron at this moment…as much as I would like to of course." Hermione nodded. "Thank you". Adam then turned to leave as Hermione made her way to Ron's room.

The next day Hermione visited Ron as she always did the last few weeks but this time had brought along the present that Ron had given her last year. Ron was alone in his room reading the Daily Prophet and looked up when he saw that Hermione was waiting at the door. "Uhh...Hermione right?" She nodded as he smiled. "Come in" She sat next to Ron who started playing with his hands.

"So remember anything yet?" Ron shook his head as she handed the book to Ron. "You gave this to me last year for Christmas" she explained as he flipped through and stopped at the back when he saw a note that contained his handwriting. _"Hermione, you are my dream and I promise to protect you from anything, I love you-Ron" _Ron turned to her then gave her a smile as he asked her a request. "Can you do something for me?" Hermione leaned in and nodded "Kiss me" she looked shocked for a moment but closed her eyes and kissed Ron lightly on his lips; after a few seconds, Ron kissed her back as he caressed her smooth cheek and parted as Ron whispered, "I remembered something...I love you…" Hermione smiled then saw his blue eyes filled with happiness and love causing her to start crying joyfully. She went back to Ron and crushed him with her hug. "Ron you remembered, you remember…" she repeated over and over again happily as Ron hugged her tightly.

"How can I forget my girlfriend or that I'm the Red Archer?" Ron whispered in her ear as he give her another kiss causing more and more flashbacks to come flooding back in Ron's mind as they deepened the kiss. As they were embracing and making out, they heard a cough by the door and quickly broke apart as they saw the doctor staring and smiling.

"Mr Weasley, are you okay?" he grinned as he checked his condition.

"I remember everything- even the explosion" Ron closed his eyes and remembered his mission with Adam.

_Ron sighed in relief that everyone was evacuated then suddenly someone bumped into him, it was another KING member "Come back here!"_ _Ron shouted as he chased the shadow figure through the forest. Ron tackled the figure to the ground. "Got you now!" Ron said and was about to put handcuffs on the criminal when he heard the hooded figure laugh._

"_Are you sure?" Ron turned and eyes wide saw that bombs were planted around him; "Goodbye" He had disapparated from Ron just as the explosion occurred._

Ron returned to the present and smiled at Hermione "I think that's what happened…" The doctor nodded and told Ron that he would send a Patronus to his parents to inform them that Ron remembered everything. As the doctor was walking out, he saw out of the corner of his eye Ron and Hermione embracing once more, kissing each other soundly.

Three days later, Ron was finally released from St Mungos and was able to return home. When he arrived, he was greeted by his family, Hermione's family, Harry, Adam, Cora, Erica and the twins who all celebrated Ron's return. "Welcome home!" they all shouted excitedly making him smile as the children dashed towards Ron to give him a hug. "Welcome home Uncle Ron!" the children cheered as Ron gave them a bear hug causing a burst of giggles from them. He then walked over to his parents who hugged him tightly as Molly cried happily knowing that her little boy was okay and finally home.

"Come on we have cake for you" Ron smiled when he saw the large chocolate cake that Molly baked with icing that read, _Welcome home Ronnie. _Ron rolled his eyes and used his finger to wipe off the _nie_ to leave it saying Ron.

"Thanks mum" Ron hugged his mother who started to cut the cake while everyone else joined in on the festivities.

The next day Ron stayed in bed due to the doctor's orders while everyone went to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies. He was outside practicing with his aim and was getting "bull's-eye" every time, causing a grin to form on his face. Ron walked over to pick up the arrow and suddenly had an idea. He covered his eyes with his navy blue handkerchief and took a deep breath before drawing his bow string back but winced as his right hand hurt a little as it was still healing and thought about the target; he was about to let go when someone shouted "Ronald!" he accidentally released it then pulled down his handkerchief and frowned when he was inches away from the bull's-eye. He then turned to see Professor Dumbledore who smiled as he walked over to him. "Shouldn't you be resting Ronald?" Ron shrugged as he walked over and retrieved the arrow.

"I don't know; just don't like staying still I guess, sir." Dumbledore laughed as he picked up Ron's bow.

"Might I try Ron?" He asked and Ron nodded as he gave him the arrow; Dumbledore placed the arrow and was then ready to pull back but the Red Archer warned him.

"By the way sir, the bow string is quite strong and stiff so you might-" he stopped as Dumbledore pulled it back without any problem and aimed and hit the bull's-eye leaving Ron with his mouth gaped open. Dumbledore laughed as he handed the bow back to him. "You're quite strong for your age sir" Ron commented as his Headmaster smiled. As Ron was ready to say something more, he stopped and turned to see that his best friend and his girlfriend (along with the Weasleys) had returned with lots of bags. He put his bow on his back so his hands were free before he ran over to them and took all of Hermione's bags off her hands as Molly playfully stated,

"Don't worry about the heavy bags that your lovely mum or little sister are carrying dear." Ron just blushed and smiled and then took some weight off Ginny and Molly. "I didn't know you were so strong Ron" Ginny playfully joked at Ron, who only rolled his eyes then commented,

"Hahaha very funny Gin." "What the bloody hell did you guys buy anyway?" Ron said as they walked inside and placed the bags on the table. Harry then came in a few seconds after Ron with just a couple of bags (Ron could only mouth 'wimp' at Harry as Harry gave him a gesture that he knew Ron's mother would not approve of) while talking to Dumbledore (who had seen the exchange between the two boys and could only laugh). Ron then walked over to Hermione and hugged her from behind as Dumbledore and Harry went to visit an old friend of Dumbledore's. "Want to go swimming?" Ron whispered in Hermione's ear.

"Sure, she said giggling. Then not wanting to be the rude guest asked Ginny, "Want to go swimming with us Ginny?" Ron could only glare at Ginny who smirked and responded, "Well…No thanks I have to do homework-but you two have fun!" Ginny told Hermione who nodded then quickly grabbed Hermione's hand and took her upstairs, leaving Ron with Molly who was busy making lunch for them. He then heard his mother clear her throat and speak.

"Smooth Ronald...are you sure you two are going to swim or snog each other?" Ron blushed making Molly smile. "Ron please treat her right" Ron nodded as Molly knew that he would never do anything to hurt Hermione; she knew that the two loved each other deeply and had a high chance of getting married in the future which made Molly smile even bigger thinking of having Hermione as an official Weasley someday. "Go on and get changed dear." Ron nodded and got changed into his navy blue swim trunks and a dark green t-shirt. He then packed a bag with items he figured he might need such as towels, sunblock and a picnic blanket. He headed downstairs and saw that his mother had prepared a picnic basket for the two. "Thanks mum" Ron kissed Molly's cheek as he took the basket from her hands and saw Hermione enter wearing a white tank top and red shorts. "Ready to go" Hermione nodded as Ron grabbed her hand and led her outside. They passed the pond where she thought they would go swimming but Ron kept leading her somewhere else.

"Umm Ron- where are we going" Hermione asked her boyfriend who smiled. "It's a secret" Hermione shook her head wondering what her boyfriend was up to and just allowed him to drag her wherever he had planned. When they arrived to the spot Ron had chosen, Hermione could only gasp at the sight. In front of them, she saw a large crystal clear lake surrounded by a tree filled forest and wild flowers. Ron smiled at his girlfriend and took off his t-shirt revealing his fit body causing Hermione to blush as he sexily walked over to her and raised a playful eyebrow at her.

"Something wrong Hermione?" Ron leaned in and their lips were inches away from each other, teasing, when finally they had enough and kissed. They smiled wide at each other as Ron turned from Hermione and jumped into the water. Hermione shook her head and then took off her tank top and shorts revealing a black bikini which made Ron almost drown as he caught a glimpse of Hermione who smirked and jumped in the water. Ron swam towards Hermione and wrapped his arms around her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck as they stayed afloat. "You look sexy" Ron growled in Hermione's ear causing her to blush and whisper back,

"So do you; I guess being the Red Archer does do a body good" Ron smiled as he leaned in to give her another kiss. After a few hours of some very hot making out in the water, they decided to get out and "cool off" as well as dry off and eat. Ron and Hermione were having a great time, laughing and talking about so many things when they realized it was time to start thinking about heading back. They packed up their stuff and walked hand in hand back to the Burrow, in comfortable silence. When they got inside, they were quiet as they knew everyone had turned in for the night. Ron silently led Hermione to Ginny's room (where she was sleeping) and pulled her to his chest. "Thank you for a lovely date" she whispered as she pulled Ron down for a kiss.

"You deserve it, love…now, get out of those wet clothes- don't want you to catch a cold." Hermione smiled and gave Ron one final kiss before entering the room. Ron then headed downstairs where he saw Fred, George, Molly and Ginny with their arms crossed in front of their chests and smirks on their faces making Ron groan as he had thought that everyone was in bed.

"Hey" he said weakly as he got a glass of ice cold water. Seeing their brother looking happy decided to have a little fun and tease him. Fred, being the boldest, led off the teasing. "So snog did you?" Ron spit out his water as everyone laughed. "So out of ten what rating would you give her?" Just as they thought Ron couldn't turn any pinker, they saw that they were wrong. "Well Ron?" Fred nudged his brother in the ribs who didn't say anything. Molly, seeing that her son was embarrassed decided to end his torture and spoke.

"Okay enough Fred… Ron might explode in embarrassment" All of Ron's siblings complained to their mother but then decided it was better for their health that they leave well enough alone and left. Molly could see that her youngest son was happy but also that he was grimaced a bit "How's your hand love?" Molly asked her son who looked at his right hand and said,

"Still a little pain but I can live with it mum. Molly just nodded as Ron continued "definitely not as painful as Fred interrogating me about Hermione's kisses." She laughed at her son and shook her head and kissed him on his cheek. As she left, she heard Ron whisper quietly, "For your information you git (she knew he was referring to Fred) Hermione's kisses are a 12/10".


	11. Chapter 11

HBP2

_"Come on, where is it?" Ron opened his groggy eyes and found himself tied to a chair, surrounded in darkness with the only source of light being a flicking bulb above him. "Where is it?" Then a sound of a hand hit something causing a high pitch cry, alerting him even further._

"_Hey leave her alone!" Ron shouted unable to control his bodily movements or his speech; he then heard thundering footsteps coming towards him and felt a stinging slap on his cheek. "Leave her alone!" He repeated towards the shadowed figure in the wings. _

"_We will kill your pretty little girlfriend, boy!" Suddenly on the other side of the room a light revealed Hermione tied to a chair and her cheek red from the slap. "Fine if you don't tell us where it is... go ahead and kill her-now." Ron's eyes opened wide when he heard a sword being drawn and was about to stab Hermione when he finally forced himself to wake up. _

"NOOO!" Ron shouted as he came to a sitting position and wiped the cold sweat coming down his face. As his heart rate was slowing down, he absorbed his environment and noticed he was in his dorm at Hogwarts with all of his roommates fast asleep. Ron sighed in relief when he remembered to cast a silencing charm around his bed, not wanting to disturb his dorm mates. Ron checked the time on his watch and saw it was five thirty in the morning. Knowing that he would be unable to fall back asleep, he put on a shirt before silently walking down to the common room and to sit down on one of the comfortable sofas by the fire. Staring into the fire, Ron ran his hands through his fiery red hair and closed his eyes for a minute, not realizing that he had fallen asleep. As he was in his sleeping state, he heard his name. "Ron?" Somebody called out causing him to open his eyes and saw Hermione wearing her uniform and wearing a worried look on her face. "Are you alright? What are you doing here?" She asked Ron who rubbed his tired eyes.

"Just had a bad dream" Hermione sighed as she sat next to Ron and cupped his stubbly cheek.

"Ron, go and ask for Dreamless Potion from Madame Pomfrey." She told Ron who shook his head then hugged her tightly and sighed.

"You know I don't like to worry you love, so please don't worry about me." Ron kissed Hermione's hair as he hugged her even tighter. "I love you" he whispered in her ear making her smile as she felt Ron move from her. "I need to get dressed." Hermione nodded as Ron stood up. "Be back in a few minutes." Hermione watched him walk up the stairs to his room to quickly get changed. True to his word, Ron was back within a few minutes but having a little trouble with his tie due to his right hand still hurting. Hermione seeing his trouble walked over to Ron and tied it for him. "Thanks" Ron whispered as Hermione stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the lips before smiling.

"No problem...breakfast?" She asked Ron who smiled.

"Do you really need to ask" Hermione giggled as she rolled her eyes playfully before they started walking out to breakfast; when they reached the portrait hole, Ron bowed humorously at Hermione. "After you milady" he said causing his girlfriend to laugh and curtsey back before heading to the Great Hall for breakfast.

As they were eating, more and more students entered the Great hall when Adam's bird suddenly flew in and dropped a letter in front of Ron. The two looked fearfully at each other as Ron took a deep breath and carefully opened the letter. Ron tentatively picked it up and began reading it to himself; when he was done with it, he sighed and showed Hermione the letter who read it quietly.

_Ron,  
I know you are still recovering but you are needed again.  
We heard that the KINGS are planning to meet with the TARGET.  
Go to Professor Dumbledore who will explain the rest.  
Adam _

Hermione blew out a sigh when she knew that Ron was going away but she was more scared that Ron would hurt himself again and maybe even worse-not return to her. Hermione's boyfriend knew that she was worried for him so Ron took her hand and kissed it lightly and whispered in her ear,

"I promise that I will be back to you safely, love…. I will not get blown up again." Ron kissed her hand again. "I'll be back as soon as I can" Ron could see that her eyes were welling up with tears causing him to take her hand and walk outside with him. When they were outside, Ron hugged Hermione tightly who started sobbing into his chest, making him sigh and hug her tighter. "Please stop crying" he hushed.

"Ron...please… promise me that you won't get hurt again." Ron sighed and whispered in her ear,

"I can't really promise that I won't get hurt but I will be safe." Hermione just cried harder into Ron's chest as he just held her. "I swear to send a Patronus to you every night Hermione." Ron then kissed her on the cheek before letting her go. "I love you." Ron left Hermione who hid her tears as she watched her boyfriend leave her.

It had been a week since Ron left and true to his word he did send Hermione a Patronus every night so she didn't have to worry. Hermione waited in the common room nightly wanting to know about Ron's condition as she bit her nails waiting when suddenly Ron's Jack Russell terrier came in and his deep voice spoke.

"Hermione- hey I'm alright but tired, I have only dislocated my right hand again by our lovely assassin that works for KINGS but hopefully I'll be back soon; don't get into trouble...haha… I love you." Hermione smiled as she let out a sigh of relief knowing that Ron was okay. Hermione let out a big yawn and decided that since her boyfriend was safe for the night that she too would head upstairs to her dorm to sleep.

Ron was breathing heavily as he lay on the hospital bed while he put his wand on the bed side table. He groaned as he placed his right hand on his injury over his right lower abdominal; he was stabbed by one of the assassins when his back was turned away. He hated lying to Hermione but he didn't want to worry her even more. As Ron was lying in the bed, he saw a folder dropped onto his lap and saw that it was Adam (who wore a cast on his left hand), wearing a sad face. Ron looked at Adam and opened it to reveal a file about Draco Malfoy. Ron looked strangely at Adam as Adam answered his silent question. "He's one of them now." Ron nodded, somewhat in disbelief as he continued to read the file.

The next day, Ron and Adam were discharged from the hospital so they went to the Burrow to see Ron's parents. "Ronnie" Molly hugged her son tightly who groaned in pain causing her to let go in worry. "Sorry dear- forgot about your injury." Ron just grimaced. "When are you going back to school?"

"Tonight" Molly nodded as Arthur came in and smiled brightly as he gave his son a hug.

"Welcome home son." They all sat on around the Weasley table talking about Ron and Adam's mission, only revealing certain pieces of information as the other parts were confidential.

Following dinner that night, Dumbledore picked up Ron and both disapparated to Hogwarts to his office to speak about what he missed and what he needed to catch up on. When they had finished their meeting, Ron made his way to the Gryffindor tower; he entered the common room where he found Hermione looking out of the window chewing her fingernails causing Ron to sigh as he knew she was waiting for him to send a Patronus. Walking over quietly, Ron sneaked behind her and wrapped his strong arms around her waist and kissed her on the cheek causing her to look shocked for a minute followed by tears falling down her face as she cried into Ron's chest.

"You're safe" she whispered as Ron hugged her tightly and kissed her hair. They didn't know how long they were in this position but they didn't care. Hermione embraced Ron tightly causing him to groan in pain which made her pull back in shock at Ron's pained face. "Sorry, wait- what happened?" Ron sighed as they took a seat on the sofa, knowing that his girlfriend would be upset by his news.

"I was stabbed by KINGS assassin." Hermione's eyes widened and started to panic as she looked down at Ron's body. Ron, seeing his girlfriend in distress pulled her closer to him and tried to calm her down. "Hey, shhhh, I'm sorry love- I didn't want you to worry about me." Hermione tearfully nodded and laid her head on Ron's chest, trying to forget about her boyfriend's injury. They lay like that for a few minutes when finally Hermione spoke.

"Just glad you're okay love." Ron smiled as they embraced each other tighter. Ron and Hermione were still holding onto each other as Ron looked down at his watch and realized it was time for bed. He gently shook Hermione awake who had fallen asleep on her boyfriend. Ron smiled down at his girlfriend and gently shook her. "Hermione" Ron whispered in her ear "as much as I would love to stay like this with you, you need to wake up before someone sees us like this." Hermione sighed as she opened her big brown eyes and yawned before stretching as Ron got up and walked her over to the Girls dormitory staircase. "See you at breakfast tomorrow morning." Hermione nodded and groggily kissed Ron on the lips before before walking up the stairs as Ron slowly made his way to his own dorm.

"Ron?" someone called out as Ron tied his tie. "Is that you?" Ron turned to see Harry who was rubbing his tired eyes and frowned at his best mate. "Where have you been?" He asked his best friend angrily who looked at his emerald eyes and in his mind was explaining to himself:

"_I was sent by Dumbledore to try and track down Voldemort and KINGS and try and help you for next year." _Harry just stared at Ron unblinking; Ron knew that if Harry knew that Dumbledore had sent him on a mission to find the Dark Lord that he would be angry so he just took a deep breath and said, "I was with Adam on more missions." Ron lied as he bit his lip hoping that Harry would buy the story. After a few seconds, Harry nodded which confirmed that he had indeed bought the story, making Ron feel guilty for lying to his best friend.

"You know Ron-people are saying that you are going to a special maths school." Harry playfully joked to Ron who rolled his eyes. Harry then got changed into his uniform and headed down with Ron for breakfast. Ron was eating his breakfast (scrambled eggs and toast) while sneakily looking at Draco in his peripheral vision. Ron could see that Malfoy wasn't sleeping very well and was paler than usual; he was also looking at his arm and rubbed it every now and then making Ron curious.

It was Advance Mathematics and Ron was bored as McGonagall was teaching about Advance Algebra (which was supposed to be hard but of course he no trouble with it). Ron looked at Hermione who was having no trouble either with it and smiled at her before finishing his work. After he was done, he got up and handed it to McGonagall who checked it then tutted, "Mr Weasley… I would like to see you working out your strategies, not just the answer." Ron groaned as his teacher handed him back his parchment and sat back at his seat while all the students (minus Hermione) were glaring daggers at him for finishing the work quickly. Ron, still feeling a bit annoyed looked at his parchment and had noticed something written on it: _"Dumbledore's office" _He looked up at Professor McGonagall who secretly smiled at Ron who nodded and quickly corrected his work to hand back to McGonagall. She took his work and grinned at Ron as he headed back to his seat to pack up. Hermione looked at Ron who mouthed, "Don't worry love" as she just smiled a bit at him. He then grabbed his bag and quickly made a beeline for Dumbledore's office, wondering what his Headmaster had to say.

"Professor, why did you call me?" Ron asked as he took a seat in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"Mr Weasley, I fear that I won't live very long so I must tell you this now." Ron looked stunned but nodded slowly. "The Dark Lord is growing stronger every day; there are seven things you must destroy to defeat him once and for all. I know that this is a lot for three children to take on, but I know it's you three that must kill him so he can't harm the next generation." Ron looked confused by Dumbledore's comment and then asked slowly,

"Wait...the three of us?" Dumbledore nodded. "Wait- Hermione, Harry and I?" The old Headmaster nodded as Ron shook his head in disagreement. "Sir I don't think-"

"Don't think Mr Weasley; it's you three that I know will end The Dark Lord. But you need to promise me that you won't tell Harry or Hermione yet- please Ron… can I have your word?" Ron sighed and nodded begrudgingly in agreement.

"You have my word, sir." Dumbledore smiled. "What are the seven things we need to destroy and how do we destroy them?" Ron asked the Headmaster who sighed and explained.

"Alas I don't know; the Dark Lord used it to trap a part of his soul to make himself immortal." Ron nodded as he leaned back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. "One of the Horcruxes was Tom Riddle's diary- the one that Harry destroyed in second year." Ron nodded again. "Now I only told you and Adam about this information Ron- no one else knows." Ron sighed as he ran his hand through is fiery hair. "That is all Ron- you may go and join your classmates, especially Ms Granger." Dumbledore smirked as the youngest Weasley son blushed and got up to leave and head for lunch.

Ron took a seat next to Harry, looking shocked and confused. "Alright there mate?" Harry patted Ron's back which made him snap out of his trance. Ron weakly smiled and replied,

"Yeah- sorry; just have a lot on my mind lately." Harry nodded as he continued eating. As Ron was eating, he felt Hermione's hand hold his under the table while the other hand continued eating. Ron grinned at his girlfriend thinking what a lucky bloke he was to have a girl like Hermione to love him.

After lunch, Hermione had Potions class while Ron had a free period; so Ron, being the good boyfriend like he was, walked Hermione to her classroom. He and Hermione kissed each other goodbye and went their separate ways. Ron had to quickly change into his Red Archer's costume to go and join Adam on their next assignment. After he had finished changing, Ron took the Floo from Dumbledore's office to Adam's house. Ron knocked on the door as Adam opened it wearing a serious look on his face; he then nudged his head downstairs to his interrogation room, making Ron wonder what or who was downstairs. Adam then led Ron downstairs and saw that it was one of the assassins (whose eyes were covered with a black handkerchief and was tied to a chair) that worked for KINGS. Ron took a deep breath as he stared at the person who had sent him to hospital. Mason Jasper had greasy black hair that moved around everywhere and wore a star earring in his left ear. Ron clenched his fists and nodded as Adam removed the blindfold to reveal his dark green menacing eyes. He smirked at Ron and said,

"Well, 'ello Weasley…thought I had done you in- I thought I would be able to now take a stab at your bird-what's her name? Granger?"

Ron just clenched his fists tighter at the mention of Hermione's name coming from his disgusting mouth.

"Quite good looking girl you 'ave" Ron punched him in the face hard, making him laugh evilly as he continued, "Too bad she's a filthy Mudblood-sure looks good enough to fu-" Ron lunged at Mason and threw his hands around his neck causing Adam to intervene and pry Ron's hands off the guy's throat.

"STOP" Adam ordered Ron who sighed and calmed down. Mason gasped for air but continued to grin menacingly. "I swear I won't hold him back next time you son of a bitch." Adam warned Mason who just looked smug and leaned back on his chair legs and put his head to the side, looking at Ron.

"You won't get me to talk" Ron and Adam smiled at each other as Adam asked Ron something loud enough for Mason to hear.

"What do you think- icy water, burning fire, or the sky?" Ron smirked as he looked at Mason's face turn white at Ron's answer.

"All of them…" Mason, not looking so smug anymore, gulped in fear. "I think we should start with the water." Adam smiled then teleported them to a freezing climate- the Arctic and Mason started to shiver in his chair as Ron and Adam just stood there unaffected. Ron made a large hole in the icy lake then whispered angrily at Mason as he freed him from the chair.

"This is a little payback for calling Hermione that, you tosspot." Adam then tied a thick piece of rope around Mason's body as Ron pushed him into the icy cold water. Mason was kicking frantically upwards to stay afloat but the water was so cold that he felt like he was being pierced with a thousand needles; his breathing started to become more shallow as Ron kneeled next him and growled in his ear,

"Ready to talk?" Mason shook his head vehemently as Adam knew they couldn't break him this way. Adam then pulled Jasper out of the water and looked at Ron who said, "Sky next" Adam laughed at Ron and then teleported the three of them to another location where there were Pegasus's ready to fly. Mason looked at the creatures and a look of panic crossed his features as he saw Ron tie one of his feet to a rope and got on one of the winged horses. Ron then kicked off as Mason started to scream in fear as Ron flew higher and was ready to cut the rope when he heard Mason shout bloody murder.

"FINE FINE I'll talk! Please! STOP!" Mason begged Ron who cut the rope that was keeping him airborne. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Ron then let the rope go and let Mason fall as he then jumped off the horse. Mason closed his eyes waiting to hit the ground but after a few minutes of not feeling anything, he opened his eyes and saw that he was back in the interrogation room and was unharmed. "What the hell happened? What did you do to me?!" Mason screamed at the two who said nothing and ignored him. Mason was still shouting obscenities at the two heroes when he suddenly saw Ron pick up his bow and transform it into a sword. Ron then slowly walked towards Mason who fearing for his life, finally blurted out everything he knew. Feeling satisfied with the assignment, Adam looked at Ron who still was approaching Mason with the sword. Ron looked at Adam and sighed and dropped the sword. Adam patted Ron on the back and said goodbye to him before going back to Hogwarts.

When Ron walked into the common room, he saw that it was only Hermione there (who of course was reading a book) while the other students had gone off to Hogsmeade for the day. "Hermione" What are you doing here?" Ron asked Hermione who looked up from her book and gave Ron a hug.

"You kind of disappeared so I was worried." Ron sighed and hugged her tighter. As he was hugging her, a leather book fell out of Ron's bag; Hermione bent down to pick it up, curious as to what it was. "What is this?" She asked Ron who smiled and said,

"Open it" Hermione flicked through the pages and saw that it was filled with beautiful hand drawn drawings of mostly her reading, smiling, talking etc. She also saw that there were some of Cora, Nicky and Ally playing and smiling as well. "I drew them when I couldn't sleep on my missions" Ron smiled. "I know they aren't very good-" Ron started but Hermione interrupted him.

"Don't be silly Ron; these are amazing!" Hermione playfully lightly hit Ron's drawing book on his head making him smile. "People would pay a lot of money for these, love." Ron feeling good about Hermione's praise dove in for a kiss to which Hermione responded enthusiastically back. But as Ron was kissing Hermione, he could only think about the filthy things Mason had said about Hermione, causing him distress and worry that maybe sparing Mason's life had been a mistake after all.


	12. Chapter 12

Ron was awake in his room but couldn't sleep. He just laid in his bed with his arms under his head as he listened to Harry's loud snoring, happy about the fact that Harry was not having any more nightmares about Voldemort. Unfortunately for Ron though, it was now his turn to be experiencing nightmares of his own-ones that usually starred Hermione being in danger. Ron, who was still sweating from his last nightmare about Hermione, looked at his watch and saw it was five in the morning. Sighing at the time of the early hour, Ron silently walked downstairs to get a drink of water. It seemed that the nightmares were not the only thing plaguing his sleep, but also the notion of going to the Grangers for a Christmas party was causing a loss of sleep as well. He was feeling a little nervous because he would be surrounded by Muggles and didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of his girlfriends' parents. However, his biggest worry was the possibility of an attack by KINGS assassins which meant two things: The Grangers could be harmed and that Ron's identity would be revealed to the Grangers thus making him scared that they would forbid their daughter from seeing him. At this thought, Ron sighed as he ran his hand through his hair as he drank his icy cold water. "Ron?" Somebody called out softly causing Ron to turn to see his mother who was smiling happily at him as he grinned back. "What are you doing up?" She asked as she started the kettle to make tea.

"I guess I'm just used to waking up early now…thanks to Adam." Ron commented making Molly chuckle. "Want me to help you make breakfast, mum?" His mother nodded as Ron gathered the ingredients and started to cook while Molly looked on proudly. Her son was so focused on cooking that he didn't notice that his mother wasn't cooking, but rather was just watching him. Just as Ron was about to ask his mother what she was doing, he heard a whistle from beyond the kitchen door and frowned.

"Well look at the whittle house wife" Ron exhaled and turned to see Ginny wearing a large smirk on her face which made Ron frown a bit more. Not wanting to irritate their mother so early in the morning, Ron simply replied,

"No food for you then." Ron watched his sister's smirk vanish as Ron grinned then laughed. "I'm only joking Gin" Ginny sighed in relief as Ron placed the food on a large plate in front of her and they all started eating. A few minutes later, Harry came down and joined the Weasley family for breakfast, enjoying the relatively peaceful meal (a few jabs between Ron and Ginny had to be exchanged since after all they were Weasley siblings).

After breakfast and everyone had helped clean up, Ron went to his room to do some more sketches while Harry left to see Sirius. After a few minutes of Harry being gone, Ron left to take a shower before getting ready for his girlfriend's parents' party. He couldn't quite decide what he wanted to wear but then settled on his dark blue jeans, a light blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and then his dress shoes that he only wore for special occasions. Looking into the mirror, Ron thought he looked pretty good and prepared to leave.

At the Granger's household, Hermione was in her room trying on different outfits but couldn't decide on what to wear. "Hermione- Hermione dear?" Hermione's mother knocked on the door then waited for a few seconds but didn't get an answer. After waiting a few more seconds, Jenny opened the door and was a little shocked at seeing all of Hermione's clothes scattered all over as if a bomb had exploded in her room. Scanning the room, she then found Hermione wearing a dark red dress (that went just below her knees) staring at herself in the mirror as Jenny smiled.

"How do I look mum?" Hermione asked then added, "Be honest" Jenny walked towards her daughter and hugged her tightly as she playfully said,

"I think Ron will kidnap you if you wear that sweetie." Hermione blushed scarlet red at her mother's comment when Jenny's face turned serious. "Oh...sweetheart you look beautiful" Hermione just smiled. "Come…help us lay out the table before Ron gets here." Grinning, Hermione agreed and the two women went downstairs to prepare for Hermione's knight in shining armour (as her mother liked to jokingly refer to Ron).

An hour had passed when there was a knock on their door. Hermione dashed to the door and opened it to reveal Ron with a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

"ROON!" She squealed happily then flung herself to her boyfriend causing them to fall into the snow making them both laugh. "Sorry" she apologized as Ron laughed and helped the two of them get up as the Grangers came out smiling.

"Ronald!" Mrs Granger hugged Ron and kissed him on the cheek and then he shook hands firmly with Mr Granger. "Thank you again for having me...uh, here-these are from my parents." Ron handed the flowers to Mrs Granger who said thank you and invited Ron inside their home. A few seconds later, Mr Granger then took Ron to his study to ask him some questions. Ron sat in front of Jack Granger's desk while he studied his daughter's boyfriend who looked quite scared and nervous. As Ron sat there, the only thing he could think about at that very moment was that he would rather have gone head to head with all the KINGS assassins than have to face Mr Granger and his questions. Ron wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans waiting for Mr Granger to bring up the biggest question. "Ronald Weasley, my daughter has told me lots of things about you…" He loudly gulped as he continued. "But there's one thing I want to know- why were you expelled last year" (ah and there was the question Ron was NOT wanting to answer but knew was coming). Ron clenched his hands together and battled with himself on what to say.

"_I should tell him everything...NOO I can't- he'll forbid me to date Hermione but they deserve to know."_ Ron made his final decision and took a deep breath before speaking. "I got expelled last year to do a mission from Professor Dumbledore and Adam, sir." Mr Granger nodded but knew there was more to the story than Ron was telling. Taking a deeper breath, Ron decided to spill everything. "I was doing a mission because…I'm the newest Red Archer, sir." Ron closed his eyes and waited for a shout or a punch but then he heard Mr Granger laugh.

"I had some suspicion for a while now, but how long exactly have you been the Red Archer, son" Ron then heard the door open and footsteps entering which meant that their guests had arrived. Ron seeing that Mr Granger was patiently waiting for his answer sighed and responded quietly.

"Three years now, sir" Ron closed his eyes and waited for some comment from Hermione's father but then he heard the chair scrape on the floor indicating that Mr Granger was now on his feet. Ron then felt a large hand clamp down on his shoulder causing him to look at the older man who had a large grin on his face.

"Just promise to take good care of Hermione, son" Ron, disbelieving what he was hearing, only nodded happily as they started making their way towards the party. Feeling somewhat more at ease, Ron walked around with a bit more confidence as he was bombarded by the guests about his relationship with Hermione. As Ron was making his way around, he saw a much older woman sitting on the couch and approached her. Ron sat down and began speaking with the woman, who turned out to be Hermione's aunt and (a woman who had light brown hair and grey eyes) clearly not impressed with Ron. "So Ron, are you still in education?" She asked sharply as Ron gulped then wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans as his eyes scanned for Hermione. "Ye-" But Ron couldn't finish his sentence as she shot him another question.

"Do you have a job? I don't want my niece to not be taken care of in the future" As he was about to answer, he noticed Adam's eagle watching him. Distracted, Hermione's aunt snapped her fingers in front of him snapping him out of his trance. "Well boy!" Ron could tell she was being impatient as he answered,

"No bu-" again he was interrupted by another question.

"What do you want to be when you grow up? Where do you see yourself and my niece in five years?" She kept interrogating Ron who was having difficulty keeping up with the questions. Sneering at Ron, her aunt said nastily, "Well, clearly you're no good for my niece; Hermione deserves someone who can give her everything she deserves- someone who has a name for themselves- rich, famous, smart, good looking and well...not you." Ron looked down and didn't say anything as he knew her words were true. "I think you're wasting Hermione's and your time. I really think you should leave as I have brought the perfect boy for Hermione to meet." Ron sighed in defeat when he heard a very loud and angry voice speak.

"HOW DARE YOU AUNTIE ADALINE!" They turned their heads revealing a furious and scary looking Hermione that made Ron want to cower in fear. "I love Ron for who he is! I don't care if he has money or not or is famous or not! I fell in love with Ronald Weasley and if you tell him to leave, then so will I! You have NO right to tell me who I should love!" At this, all of the guests had turned to see what all the screaming was about and started to mutter to each other as they watched Ron, Hermione, and her aunt.

"Hermione- it's okay, love; I need to go anyway." Hermione was hurt but then looked at Ron who subtly nodded towards the window where she spotted Adam's black eagle. "I'll see you tomorrow okay?" She nodded as she knew her family was spending Christmas at the Burrow. Ron gave her a brief kiss on the lips before nodding towards Hermione's auntie and saying his goodbyes to the Grangers.

When Ron was out the room, he changed into the Red Archer's costume and let Adam's eagle lead him towards his mentor. Hermione was no longer in the mood to speak to anyone at the party after Ron left so she just said her goodnights and got changed into her pyjamas and left to go and read.

As Hermione was reading, she heard a light tapping on her window causing her to look and smile when she saw the Red Archer smiling wide as he waited for Hermione to open the window. "Hey sorry abo-" Ron was interrupted by Hermione's lips and started kissing her back. Hermione pulled down his hood revealing his fiery red hair and took off his black sunglasses that showed his brilliant blue eyes. He then flashed a smile at Hermione who couldn't help to smile back but then it faded when she saw his arm was bleeding. She lightly touched his wounded arm. "I was ambushed by You-Know-Who's followers." Hermione gasped as Ron placed a large hand on her shoulder then kissed her on the cheek. "I'm fine, love-I promise" He reassured her. But Hermione, feeling unconvinced by Ron's assurances, said gently,

"Ron you have to sit down" She then gently pushed him down into a nearby chair. "Stay here; I'll get the first aid kit." Ron waited as Hermione darted to the bathroom to get the first aid kit. After a few minutes, she came back and kneeled down beside him and took out a large cotton ball and a disinfectant. She soaked it then placed it on Ron's wound causing him to clench his fist and bite his lip trying not to make a sound. Hermione smiled sadly at Ron who she saw was trying not to scream in pain. Then she got the bandage and started to wrap it around the wound. When she was finished patching up her boyfriend, Ron kissed her as a thank you.

"Thanks love; now I know who to go to when I need patching up. It looks like I got my own sexy nurse who can take care of me." Hermione blushed making Ron laugh as he cupped her cheek and whispered, "I love you" before giving her a kiss. He then checked his watch and sighed. "I need to go...see you tomorrow." Ron gave her one more kiss before disappearing. As Hermione watched her boyfriend disappear into the night, she yelped when she heard a voice inside her room. "Well Hermione… you have quite a catch" Hermione turned and saw her mother smirking before going back downstairs to finish clearing up. Hermione then went to lie down in her bed and fell asleep with a dreamy smile as she thought of her Red Archer thinking '_yes, quite a catch mum_'.

The next morning, Ron could hear voices downstairs causing him to open his eyes. He groggily walked down the stairs to see everyone smiling and talking. "Merry Christmas Ronald" Mr Granger happily cheered at Ron who mumbled Happy Christmas as he rubbed his tired eyes. Suddenly, the sound of thundering footsteps came down the stairs as it revealed three little children charging towards the Christmas tree searching for their presents. Ron, laughing at the sight, whistled to get the little girls' attention.

"Okay- Nicky yours is the one with the yellow bow; Ally, yours is blue and Cora, yours is green...now GO!" All of the children quickly searched for their presents and started opening them with excitement. The adults just watched and smiled as the innocent children dove into their gifts. It was truly a beautiful moment in the Weasley household on this Christmas morning.

Following the festivities of the day, evening came and Ron was in his dad's shed working on a project as he felt a hand placed on his shoulder. He turned and smiled when he saw Hermione grinning. Hermione's parents had gone home while Hermione stayed for the rest of their Christmas holiday.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked her boyfriend, who kissed her small nose before replying,

"Making a bench swing for mum" Ron explained to Hermione who smiled brightly as she looked at the wooden bench with no legs. "I've done the seat so far and tomorrow I'll do the swing part."

"You're so sweet" Ron smiled then lightly kissed her.

"Want to help?" He asked Hermione who nodded as he handed her a block of wood with a wrapped piece of sandpaper on it. Seeing that she looked a bit confused, Ron placed his hands on top of hers. "Now follow the grain of the wood okay?" Hermione could barely concentrate on what Ron said as she was too busy with Ron's hot breath on her neck and his strong hands on top of hers; his face was inches away from hers as they continued to sand down the rough wood making it smoother. Ron looked at Hermione who blushed scarlet.

"Where did you learn to do this sort of thing?" Ron's laugh vibrated through Hermione's body causing her to shiver when he answered her,

"I always liked making things." Hermione nodded when she felt him stop moving his hands. Before Hermione could ask why he stopped, Ron gave her a kiss on the lips; his soft lips started to move softly against hers and she couldn't help to kiss him back when they heard a cough that broke them apart. They turned to see Cora, Nicky and Ally grinning madly.

"Hey guys...uh a little privacy please?"

"I'm telling Daddy that you have gone soft, Uncle Ron." Cora playfully teased Ron who frowned then walked over to the girls who started giggling. Ron then knelt down so they were eye level with him.

"Really?" The little girls nodded while Hermione smiled at the scene. Wanting to distract the girls from what they saw, Ron pretended to sniff them. "Well, that's not fair; I can tell that you guys ate all the sweets that were supposed to be for the Granger's." The girls' grins faded and were replaced with fear as Ron grinned and grabbed the girls in his strong arms and lifted them up in the air causing them to start giggling again.

"Uncle put us down!" Ally squealed as Ron kissed them each on their foreheads as he carefully placed them on the floor.

"Go get your teeth brushed and I'll tell you a story okay?" The girls nodded and did what they were told while Ron wrapped his strong arms around Hermione's waist and pulled her closer to him. "Now where we?" He playfully said to Hermione who giggled as he leaned in. "Oh I remember" Ron leaned down and gave her a searing kiss. After a few minutes and much snogging, they parted with large smiles on their faces. "Come on; I need to put the kids to sleep now." Feeling a tiny disappointed that they couldn't continue their make out session, Hermione agreed and walked back into the house with Ron holding hands.

Hermione returned from brushing her teeth and saw all the children listening carefully to Ron who was telling them a bedtime story. "The pauper fought all the best soldiers that the king had to offer and no matter how tired the pauper was from fighting, he only thought about one thing: the princess. He wanted to prove to the king that he would do anything for the princess so after he defeated the soldiers, the king saw that the princess loved the pauper so they let them be together so they lived..."

"Happily" Nicky shouted excitedly then Ally spoke,

"EVER" Ally said happily as Hermione smiled as she took a seat on her bed.

"AFTER" Cora giggled as Ron smiled then started to tuck the kids into their beds and kissed them each on the forehead. "Now tuck Hermione in" Cora stated making Ron laugh while Hermione blushed. Doing as he was instructed, Ron walked over to Hermione and tucked her in but instead of kissing her on the forehead, he kissed Hermione softly on the lips. He then pulled away from his girlfriend and said, "Night you guys" Ron then closed the door behind them and saw Ginny smirking. Ron just rolled his eyes at his sister and then kissed Ginny on the forehead. "Night Gin"

"Night Ron" Ginny sleepily muttered. Ron then went to his room where he saw Harry fast asleep so he quietly got changed into his Red Archer costume and disapparated to the BARA (Black Arrow and Red Archer) HQ. Ron went inside and saw many Red Archers and Black Arrows training, talking and planning as he made his way to Adam's office. Ron knocked on the door and waited until Adam answered. Ron sat down in front of his mentor.

"Ronald, I know that Dumbledore told you about Horcruxes, yes?" Ron nodded. "Now Harry destroyed Tom Riddle's diary, right?" He nodded again. "There are six more to find and destroy, mate; any idea what they are or how to destroy them?" Ron shook his head sadly.

"When I didn't have lessons at school, I tried to look for information about Horcruxes in the restricted section…but nothing yet has been found." Adam sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. Adam got up to pace around the room when suddenly Ron felt his breathing getting shorter. Grabbing his chest, Ron started to gasp for air. "Ron?" Ron started coughing and hacking and didn't stop; he was on his knees as he tried to clear his throat and tried to breathe while Adam kneeled down beside his student who started coughing out blood. "Ron we need to get you to St Mungo's- can you hear me?" But Ron only continued coughing blood and then after a few seconds had blacked out.

"What happened to Ronald?" Molly asked the doctor as Hermione sat beside Ron's bedside holding his hand while her other hand was stroking his fiery red hair. The doctor sighed as he looked at the other Weasleys and Harry. Taking a deep breath, the doctor told everyone the grim news.

"The five percent of poison in his lungs somehow multiplied to twenty percent…" Molly gasped in shock while Hermione held onto Ron's hand tighter. All of the Weasleys and Harry looked down at their feet not knowing what to say. "I'm afraid Toxin's poison somehow uses the oxygen in his lungs and is replaced with the poison; the poison moved from his lungs to his heart so Ron had a heart attack. I'm afraid the only way to save him is to operate and try to remove the poisonous toxin." Everyone nodded. "But… the survival rate of Toxin's poison on his victims aren't very high…I'm sorry."

"What are the chances of him surviving?" Hermione asked crying. The doctor shook his head then responded sadly,

"He has a fifteen percent chance of surviving Ms Granger…I'm truly sorry." Hermione looked down at her boyfriend's sleeping face and kissed his forehead as tears fell down from her eyes. The rest of the Weasleys and Harry could only stare off into space, not believing what was revealed to them. "We have to perform the surgery tomorrow… if not, Ron will die." Everyone just looked at Ron and started to tear up. Molly had to be removed from Ron's room by her husband as she broke down. Hermione could only lay her head down on Ron's chest as she started to lose it and cry more.

The next morning everyone sat outside the operation room biting their nails in anxiety when the doors finally opened. Ron's doctor was covered in blood which they assumed was Ron's as they all charged towards the doctor.

"Well we got rid of all of the poison." He showed them a vial that contained a dark purple liquid inside it. "That's the good news." Everyone held their breath as they waited for the doctor to continue. "Since the surgery was a lot on his body, as well as the poison attacking his body, Ron has once again slipped into a coma…I really am sorry". Everyone gasped, fearing that Ron would experience amnesia again but the doctor alleviated their fears when he said the chances of Ron losing his memory again were small. "You may go and see him but please keep it short; he's in room twenty seven." They all rushed to Ron's room where they found him sleeping peacefully on the white hospital bed. They told Hermione that she could see him first. Nodding her thanks at everyone, Hermione instinctively went over to her boyfriend's side and held his large hand. Hours must have passed as everyone but Hermione was sent home as she had caused so much fuss in the hospital that they let her stay. It also didn't hurt that Molly had backed up Hermione stating to the staff that she wanted her son to be left with his girlfriend. So after much arguing and seeing that they would not win against Molly and Hermione, the staff relented and allowed Hermione to stay.

Hermione sat by Ron's side and begged her boyfriend to be okay and come back to her. "Please...please...please Ron…I need you to wake up. Please, love." She cried into his chest when suddenly a hand clamped roughly on her shoulder. Hermione turned to see who it was and was about to shout when suddenly all she saw was darkness.


End file.
